1. NOUNS & ARTICLES (Los Sustantivos y Los Artículos)

2. Definitions Noun—The name of a person, place, or thing.
Article—A small word that is linked to a noun and is used to identify the word as a noun but doesn’t describe the noun.

3. Gender?
What does the word gender mean?
In humans: Female or Male

4. Gender and Nouns?
In Spanish, every noun has a gender, either masculine or feminine.
How can you tell the gender of a noun?

5. Nouns (Los sustantivos)
Many Spanish nouns end in either the letter o or the letter a .
Rule #1: Almost all nouns that end in the letter o are masculine.
Example: el número

6. Nouns (Los sustantivos)
Rule #2: Almost all nouns that end in the letter a are feminine.
Example: la semana

7. Nouns (Los sustantivos)
However, there are exceptions to the rules.
Examples: el día
el mapa
NOTE: These words end in the letter a but are considered masculine words

8. Nouns (Los sustantivos)
What about all the other nouns that neither end in the letter a nor the letter o ?
Use the dictionary to determine the gender.
Memorize the gender.
Always say the noun with the correct article—giving you a clue about its gender.

9. Articles (Los artículos)
In Spanish, there are 2 types of articles:
Definite Singular
Plural
Indefinite Singular

10. Definite Articles (Los artículos definidos)
The English word “the” is called a Definite article because it is used to refer to a definite or specific person, place, or thing.
For example: the girl
the school

11. Definite Articles (Los artículos definidos)
The Definite Singular articles in Spanish are el and la .
El—is used with a masculine singular noun.
For example: el pupitre
La—is used with a feminine singular noun.
For example: la mesa

12. Examples of Definite Singular Articles
Definite Singular Masculine articles:
el estante
el chicle
el dulce
Definite Singular Feminine articles:
la mesa
la pizarra
la puerta

13. Definite Plural Articles (Los artículos definidos plurales)
The Definite Plural articles in Spanish are los and las .
Los—is used with a masculine plural noun.
For example: los bolígrafos
Las—is used with a feminine plural noun.
For example: las tijeras

14. Examples of Definite Plural Articles
Examples of Definite Plural Masculine articles:
los estantes
los lapices
los dulces
Examples of Definite Plural Feminine articles:
las mesas
las pizarras
las puertas

15. Indefinite Articles (Los artículos indefinidos)
The English word “a (an)” is called an Indefinite article because it refers to any person, place or thing.
For example: a girl,
an apple,
a school

16. Indefinite Singular Articles (Los artículos indefinidos singulares)
The Indefinite Singular articles in Spanish are un and una .
Un—is used with a masculine singular noun.
For example: un maestro
Una—is used with a feminine singular noun.
For example: una carpeta

17. Examples of Indefinite Singular Articles
Indefinite Singular Masculine articles:
un maestro
un borrador
un dulce
Indefinite Singular Feminine articles:
una mesa
una goma
una profesora

18. Indefinite Plural Articles (Los artículos indefinidos plurales)
The Indefinite Plural articles in Spanish are unos and unas (which translate to mean “some” and/or “a few”).
Unos—is used with a masculine plural noun.
For example: unos dulces
Unas—is used with a feminine plural noun.
For example: unas maestras

19. Examples of Indefinite Plural Articles
Indefinite Plural Masculine articles:
unos calendarios
unos legajos
unos bolígrafos
Indefinite Plural Feminine articles:
unas gomas
unas mochilas
unas sillas