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Learn to Read and Speak Spanish - Articles The difference between definite articles and indefinite articles can be observed in the following two sentences:
Give me a cookie, please. Imagine a plate full of cookies. There are peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, and one chocolate chip cookie.
Give me the chocolate chip cookie.
Give me a cookie, please. The difference between the definite and indefinite articles is the difference between talking about a specific cookie, or any old cookie at all.
a cookie In English, the definite article is the word "the" regardless of whether the noun it introduces is singular or plural.
the cookies In Spanish, the definite article has 4 forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.
the male cat los gatos the male cats (Note 1) la gata the female cat las gatas the female cats The 4 forms of the definite article are:
masculine singular la feminine singular los masculine plural las feminine plural In English, the indefinite article is the word "a," "an," or "some."
an apple some books In Spanish, the indefinite article has 4 forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.
a male cat unos gatos some male cats una gata a female cat unas gatas some female cats The 4 forms of the indefinite article are:
masculine singular una feminine singular unos masculine plural unas feminine plural Here are the definite and indefinite articles together:
masculine singular la, una feminine singular los, unos masculine plural las, unas feminine plural Each of the following has a different meaning:
the male cat los gatos the male cats la gata the female cat las gatas the female cats un gato a male cat unos gatos some male cats una gata a female cat unas gatas some female cats Un and una can mean either 'one' or 'a.'
one book, a book una pluma one pen, a pen Note 1: the masculine plural definite and indefinite articles (los, unos) are also used to indicate a group of mixed sex. Thus, 'los gatos could refer to a group of 10 male cats, or it could refer to a group of 9 female cats and one male cat. (return to text)
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