Articles in Spanish: Guide, Grammar, Examples & Exercises

Spanish articles are small words placed in front of a noun to indicate whether it is something specific or not. There aretwo types of articles in Spanish: The definite articles are el, la, los (The) These articles are used to refer to specific things or people.

The indefinite articles in Spanish are un, una, unos, and unas (A, an, some) These articles are used to refer to non-specific things or people. The Spanish articles also agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. This means that the articles change depending on the gender and number of the noun they are referring to.

Learning the gender of nouns in Spanish can be a bit challenging for non-native speakers, but with practice and exposure to the language, it becomes easier to remember which article to use for each noun.

Definite article: El, la, los

Spanish definite articles (artículo definido) son le, la, los and all mean “the”.

Spanish	English	Nouns
El	The	Singular and masculine
La		Singular and feminine
Los		Plural and masculine or masculine and feminine at the same time.
Las		Plural and feminine

Examples

El niño. – The boy. niño is a masculine and singular noun.
El cielo.- The sky. Cielo is a masculine singular noun.
La niña. – The girl. Niña is a feminine singular noun.
La flor amarilla. -The yellow flower. Flor is a singular feminine noun.
Los niños. – The boys. Plural masculine noun.
Los niños y niñas. – The boys and girls. Plural noun, referring to both male and females.
Las flores amarillas. – The yellow flowers. Plural feminine noun.
Las niñas. – The girls. Plural feminine noun.

Indefinite article: Uno, una, unos, unas

Indefinite articles (Artículo Indefinido) are uno, una, unos and unas (A, an, and some).

Spanish	English	Nouns
Un	A, an	Singular and masculine
Una	A, an	Singular and feminine
Unos	Some	Plural and masculine or masculine and feminine at the same time.
Unas	Some	Plural and feminine

Examples

Un pastel blanco. – A white cake.
Un gato. – A cat.
Una naranja. – An orange.
Una camisa. – A shirt.
Unos zapatos. – Some shoes.
Unos niños. (including male and female) – Some children.
Unos estudiantes. – Some students.
Unas manzanas. – Some apples.
Unas vacaciones. – Some vacations.

Exercises

Of these two options, which one is a way to say "The" in Spanish?

Uno

Fill in the blank with the correct form of the Spanish definite article (The)

Remember articles agree on gender and number with the noun they accompany, therefore, to know which article to use you must know the gender of the noun.

hombre

hombres

mujeres

flor

casa

niños y niñas

Fill in the blank with the correct form of the Spanish infinite article (A, An, Some))

casa

carro

rosa roja

caballos

maestras

Suggested exercise

Write two sentences using each form of the definite article (El, La, Los, Las) and two sentences for each form of the indefinite articles in spanish (Uno, Una, Unos, unas).