Articles in Spanish

Table of contents – articles

On this page you will find the following:

1. Types of articles
2. The unique article ‘lo’
3. Further explanations and exercises

What kind of articles does Spanish have?

Like English, the Spanish language has articles (Spanish: artículos), that accompany and determine nouns. They always occur together with a noun and, thus, belong to its determiners. Likewise, Spanish grammar divides them into definite and indefinite articles, plus an additional article considered neutral. Compare:

Note: In Spanish, there are two grammatical genders. Consequently, a noun (and so its article) is either masculine or feminine. This rule excludes the special article ‘lo’, as explained below.

• The following types of Spanish articles exist; they can be singular or plural. They appear with a noun but do not necessarily precede it directly:
  • Definite articles ‘el, la, los, las’; examples with nouns:
    • el coche (the car), los coches (the cars)
      • masculine articles
    • la taza (the cup), las tazas (the cups)
      • feminine articles
    • Example sentence: “¿Has usado ya el nuevo móvil?” (Have you used the new mobile phone yet?)
      • In this statement, you can also find the adjective ‘nuevo’ (new) between the article ‘el’ and the noun ‘móvil’ (mobile phone).
  • Indefinite articles ‘un, una, unos, unas’; and some examples that include nouns:
    • un coche (a car), unos coches (corresponds to: some cars)
      • masculine articles
    • una taza (a cup), unas tazas (corresponds to: some cups)
      • feminine articles
    • Example sentence: “El vuelo solo tarda unas tres horas.” (The flight takes only about three hours.)
      • Again, the article ‘unas’ is not directly before the noun ‘horas’ (hours) but before the numeral ‘tres’ (three).

The unique article ‘lo’

As a feature of Spanish, besides the definite and indefinite articles, there is the neutral article (lo). However, this is used differently and, thus, follows its own usage rules.

• The word ‘lo’ is usually an article expressing something abstract. Compare the example sentences that show the different uses:
  • “Tener paciencia es lo más importante.” (To have patience is the most important thing.)
  • “Es impresionante ver lo que un poco de esfuerzo puede lograr.” (It is impressive to see what a little effort can accomplish.)
    • For details, read the extensive explanation of how to use ‘lo’.

Further explanations referring to ‘Spanish articles’

The following explanations are related to the Spanish grammar topic ‘Articles as determiners of nouns’ and may also be interesting:

• Using Spanish adjectives
• Numbers/numerals in Spanish