Definite Article
Spanish: Cambridge International GCSE, topic 11.1.1
Nouns
A noun is a person, place, thing or idea. In Spanish, nouns can be masculine or feminine and singular or plural:
Masculine singular
- 'El' comes before nouns that are singular and masculine.
- Most masculine singular nouns will end in an 'o'.
- El niño - the boy.
- El perro (🐕) - the dog.
- El teatro - the theatre.
Masculine and plural nouns
- 'Los' comes before nouns that are plural and masculine.
- Most masculine plural nouns will end in 'os'.
- Los niños - the boys.
- Los perros (🐕) - the dogs.
- Los teatros - the theatres.
Feminine and singular nouns
- 'La' comes before nouns that are singular and feminine.
- Most feminine singular nouns will end in 'a'.
- La niña - the girl.
- La piscina - the swimming pool.
- La guitarra - the guitar.
Feminine and plural nouns
- If a noun is plural and feminine it uses the definite article of 'las'.
- Most feminine plural nouns will end in'as'.
- Las niñas - the girls.
- Las piscinas - the swimming pools.
- E.g. Las guitarras (the guitars).
An exception
- The word that comes before feminine words that start with a stressed 'a' or 'h' is 'el' instead of 'la'.
- El agua - water.
- El aula - the classroom.
Test yourself on Definite Article
How do you say 'the wedding' in Spanish?