The in Spanish
and how to say a, an and some
Definite and indefinite articles and singular and plural
Parte 1
Today we are going to talk about the word “The.” Yay! It is really exciting!…well, I’ll do my best to make it exciting for you, but for sure I want to make it useful.
It’s funny how the little words, the 1 and 2 letter words, can be some of the hardest to learn in another language.
In English we have 1 word: The
Spanish has 4 ways to say “The.”
Spanish has Masculine and feminine and then singular and plural.
Today is Part 1 of a series that will work us through this topic and provide clarity.
If you have never studied this, just stay with it and get an overview. Simply observe and become more aware of it.
You’ll see examples in every Post. It has showed in all 50 of the previous Posts and will continue to do so.
If you have had this before, perhaps you’ll find something new and add some detail to fine-tune your current skills.
The
el – masc / sing
la – fem / sing
los – masc / plural
las – fem / plural
el libro…los libros – the book…the books
la mesa…las mesas – the table…the tables
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a, an, some
un – masc / sing
una – fem / sing
unos – masc / plural
unas – fem / plural
un cuaderno…unos cuadernos – a notebook…some notebooks
una fresa…unas fresas – a strawberry…some strawberries
una manzana…unas manzanas – an apple…some apples
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As a general rule, if a word ends in an -o, it is masculine and if it ends in an -a, it is feminine.
Note – How to make a word plural:
1. If a word ends in a vowel, simply add an -s. Ejemplo: mesa, mesas, chile, chiles, burrito, burritos
2. If a word ends in a consonant, simply add -es. Ejemplo: mes, meses, tamal, tamales, actividad, actividades
3. If a word ends in a -z, change the -z to a -c and then add -es. Ejemplo: luz, luces, lápiz, lápices
Change these to plural
1. la banana
2. el museo
3. la Plaza
4. el vaso
Change these to plural
1. una taza
2. un cognado
3. una noche
4. un aguacate
Change these to the singular form
1. las zanahorias
2. los pepinos
3. los limones
4. las actividades
Change these to the singular form
1. unas luces
2. unos amigos
3. unas panaderías
4. unos panes
Action steps: In your notebook
1. Write the 4 ways to say “The”
2. Write “a”, “an”, “some” in Spanish
3. Write the 3 rules for how to make a word plural in Spanish
4. Do the exercises above, then go back with the audio and check your work.
5. observe these little words and also s/p whenever you see Spanish written
Gracias por acompañarme en la lección de hoy.
Hasta pronto
