Uses of definite and indefinite articles
Reminder:
Definite articles like el, la, los and las (the) come before a known and specific thing or object.
Indefinite articles like un, una, unos and unas (a, an) come before an imprecise thing or object.
La bicicleta de Ana esta aparcada delante de la puerta.
Ana's bicycle is parked in front of the door.
Hay una bicicleta aparcada en delante de la puerta.
There is a bicycle parked in front of the door.
Uses of the definite articles (el, la, los, las):
- With titles: director (director), presidente (president), señor (Mr.), señora (Mrs.), etc....
El presidente del gobierno habló durante 20 minutos.
The president of the government spoke for 20 minutes.
La señora Sanchez es mi vecina.
Mrs. Sanchez is my neighbor.
- With expressions of time: days of the week, hours, months, etc.
El viernes cené con Ana.
On Friday I had dinner with Ana.
Son las siete de la tarde.
It's seven in the afternoon.
- After the verbs gustar (like), encantar (love), odiar (hate), detestar (detest)
Me encanta la música.
I love music.
Odio el fútbol.
I hate soccer.
Note: el, la, los, las are never used with the verb haber in its impersonal form, in other words, after hay (there is/are), hubo, había (there was/were), etc.
Uses of the indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas):
- Before nouns when there is a non-specific context
Voy a comprarme un traje en las rebajas.
I'm going to buy a suit on sale.
Note: We use uno to talk about a thing or person of the masculine gender that has already been mentioned in the conversation.
— ¿Conoces algún restaurante vegetariano? — Conozco uno buenísimo.
-Do you know any vegetarian restaurants? -I know a great one.
The feminine articles una and la are transformed into the masculine articles un and el before words beginning with accented -a or -ha.
Tengo un hambre de lobo.
I'm hungry like a wolf.
El agua está fría.
The water is cold.
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