1. DEFINITE ARTICLES
“the”

2. DEFINITE ARTICLES
All Spanish nouns are classified as Masculine or Feminine
This is called gender.
English nouns don’t have gender, so there is only 1 word for “the”.

3. Definite Articles (singular)
Masculine el
Feminine la

4. DEFINITE ARTICLES GENERAL RULES: Most feminine words end in “a”
Most masculine words end in “o”
La silla la pizarra la mochila
El cuaderno el libro el bolígrafo
--Words that end in –ción, sión, tad, dad, and umbre are almost always feminine
la libertad la televisión la personalidad

5. DEFINITE ARTICLES Exceptions to the rules:
Words that end in “a” but come from
Greek bases, are MASCULINE
el poema el mapa el problema
El día la mano (hand)

6. DEFINITE ARTICLES (plural)
Unlike English, there are 2 words for “the” when a noun is plural
“los” for a masculine noun
los compañeros los cuadernos
“las” for a feminine noun
las compañeras las sillas

7. MAKING NOUNS PLURAL el papel ---- los papeles Here are the rules:
1. If the noun ends with a vowel, add s
el cuaderno --- los cuadernos
la silla las sillas
2. If the noun ends in a consonant, add es
el papel los papeles

8. MAKING NOUNS PLURAL More rules:
3. If the noun ends in a “z”, change it to a “c”, and add es.
el lápiz ---- los lápices
4. If the noun ends with “es” or “is”, it does not change in the plural.
el lunes los lunes