Skip to main content
Humanities LibreTexts

4.4: Los artículos y sustantivos- gender and number (Articles and nouns and number)

  • Page ID
    163962
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Thinking about the grammar

    In the following chart, notice the difference between the singular and the plural.

    el libro los libros un libro unos libros
    la mesa las mesas una mesa unas mesas

    What is the difference between el/la/los/las and un/una/unos/unas?

    Answer: El / la / los / las are definite articles. They refer to specific things. Un / una / unos / unas are indefinite articles. They refer to non specific things. For example, ¨Necesito el libro.¨ (I need the book.) ¨Quiero un libro.¨ (I want a book).

    la pared las paredes una pared unas paredes
    el lápiz los lápices un lápiz unos lápices

    When the noun ends in a ¨z,¨ change the ¨z¨ to a ¨c¨ and add ¨-es.¨


    4.4: Los artículos y sustantivos- gender and number (Articles and nouns and number) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.