Spanish Language and Culture 10-3Y

2.1 Definite Articles - el, la, los, las

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You may have noticed that all of the vocabulary words in this lesson begin with el or la. These words are called definite articles.


The el and la in Spanish are equivalent to the word the in English. In English, the definite article the has only one form and is used with both singular and plural nouns.
In Spanish, the form of the definite article changes according to the number and gender (masculine or feminine) of the noun. Look at the chart below to see the definite articles in Spanish and then select each tab to learn more.

	Singular	Plural
masculine nouns	el	los
feminine nouns	la	las

Examples
el libro = the book (singular, masculine)	la escuela = the school (singular, feminine)
los libros = the books (plural, masculine)	las escuelas = the schools (plural, feminine)

                                           Click on Masculine or Feminine? and Plural Nouns to learn how nouns work in Spanish.

Masculine or Feminine? Plural Nouns Masculine or Feminine? How do you know if the noun is masculine or feminine? Here are some general rules to help you Generally, nouns that end in o are masculine and nouns that end in a are feminine. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Some nouns that end in a are masculine. These are often words that end in -ma. Examples el problema el poema el programa Nouns referring to people or animals can be masculine or feminine. Examples el estudiante, la estudiante el maestro, la maestra el señor, la señora Plural Nouns Like English, in Spanish we add -s or -es to form plural nouns. Here are some general rules for forming plural nouns in Spanish. Add -s to nouns ending in a vowel (a, e ,i, o, u). Examples la escuela → las escuelas el pupitre → los pupitres el cuaderno → los cuadernos Add -es to nouns ending in a consonant. Examples el papel → los papeles el salón de clase → los salones de clase If a noun ends in -z, change the z to c and add -es. Examples el lápiz → los lápices