Spanish, like English, has two types of articles: definite and indefinite. The definite article (equivalent to “the”) is used to:
refer to something/someone who is known/familiar/specific:
or, to refer to something which is considered to be general rather than particular or specific, as in:
The indefinite article, which means “a/an,” refers to something which is not known, or to something that is indifferent to the speaker.
The definite and indefinite articles must agree with the noun in both gender and number.
artículos definidos
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| masculino |  el |
los |
| femenino | la |
las |
artículos indefinidos
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| masculino | un |
unos |
| femenino | una |
unas |
When the masculine singular definite article el directly follows the prepositions a or de in a sentence, a contraction must be formed:
a+el=al
de+el=del
