Definite and Indefinite Articles
The difference between definite articles and indefinite articles can be observed in the following two sentences:
- I want a dark blue BMW. (a particular, or definite car)
- I want a car. (an indefinite car)
The difference between the definite and indefinite articles is the difference between talking about a specific car, or any car.
- the car
- a car
In English, the definite article is the word "the" regardless of whether the noun it introduces is singular or plural.
- the car
- the cars
In Spanish, the definite article has 4 forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.
- el perro
the male dog - los perros
the male dogs - la perra
the female dog - las perras
the female dogs
In English, the indefinite article is the word "a," "an," or "some."
- a cookie
- an apple
- some books
In Spanish, the indefinite article has 4 forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.
- un gato
a male cat - unos gatos
some male cats - una gata
a female cat - unas gatas
some female cats
The 4 forms of the indefinite article are:
un - masculine singular una - feminine singular unos - masculine plural unas - feminine plural
Here are the definite and indefinite articles together:
el, un - masculine singular la, una - feminine singular los, unos - masculine plural las, unas - feminine plural
Each of the following has a different meaning:
- el gato
the male cat - los gatos
the male cats (or a mixed group) - la gata
the female cat - las gatas
the female cats - un gato
a male cat - unos gatos
some male cats (or a mixed group) - una gata
a female cat - unas gatas
some female cats
"Un" and "una" can mean "one," "a," or "an."
- un libro
one book, a book - una pluma
one pen, a pen - una manzana
one apple, an apple