Articles are more common in Spanish than in English. An article is a word used before a noun. In English some examples of articles are: “the”, “a”, or “an”.

In Spanish, there are four definite articles (“the”)

Defining the terms:
Before going any further in this lesson, let's define some terms:

1. In Spanish, articles are either: masculine or feminine.¹ Articles are masculine or feminine based on the noun after them. Masculine words do not necessarily have to do with manly objects. It’s simply the way the language works.²

2. In Spanish we’ll see that articles can also be singular or plural depending on the noun following them.
If a something is singular, it means it is "one." If a something is plural, it means it is "more than one."

3. We have definite and indefinite articles in Spanish. In English, the definite article is “the,” while “indefinite articles” are “a,” “an,” and some.”
Definite:
   Pass me the book. (Pass me the specific book.)
Indefinite
   Pass me a book. (Pass me any book.)
   Pass me some books. (Pass me any books.)

Definite Articles
In Spanish, there are four definite articles (“the”)
el – the (before masculine, singular noun)

• El niño tiene solo dos libros.
     The boy has only two books.
• El gato es gordo, blanco y negro.
     The cat is fat, black and white.
• El libro cuesta diez dólares.
     The book costs ten dollars.
• ¿Tienes el dinero?
     Do you have the money?

la – the (before feminine, singular noun)

• La niña tiene sólo tres plumas.
     The girl has only three pens.
• Ella corre dentro de la casa.
     She runs inside the house.
• ¿Tomaste la medicina?
     Did you take the medicine?
• Juan estudió la lección.
     John studied the lesson.

los– the (before masculine, plural noun)

• ¿Cuánto cuestan los libros?
     How much do the books cost?
• Los muchachos llevaron la carta a la oficina.
     The boys took the letter to the office.
• Los muchachos lavaron la ropa.
     The boys washed the clothing.
• Yo creía que laslos boletos.
  I thought that the girls had bought the tickets.

las – the (before feminine, plural noun)

• Las naranjas cuestan tres Euros el kilo.³
     The oranges cost three Euros per kilo.
• Nosotros pintamos las paredes.
     We painted the walls.
• ¿Oíste las noticias?
     Have you heard the news?
• Yo tengo que aprender las palabras para el examen.
  I have to learn the words for the test.

Although the definite articles (el / la / los / las) often mean “the”, there are many times when they do not translate in English.⁴