Definite and Indefinite Articles in Spanish

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The Definite Article

The Definite article in English is "The". In Spanish there are four words to translate "the". These are "El", "La", "Los" and "Las". The Spanish definite article must agree with the gender and number of the noun that follows it. So if we want to say "The bed", we know that bed in Spanish is cama, and that it is a feminine noun so we must use La with it. Before I get too deep in this explaination, let me give you a chart of the definite articles in Spanish.

Definite Article	English Translation	Gender	Number	Example
el	the	masculine	singular	el libro the book
la	the	feminine	singular	la puerta the door
los	the	masculine	plural	los libros the books
las	the	feminine	plural	las puertas the doors

In Spanish the definite article is often used in places where we don't use it in English. For example:

The Definite article is used...	Example	Translation
With parts of the body	Me duele la cabeza.	I have a headache. / My head hurts.
With articles of clothing	Quítate la chamarra.	Take off your jacket.
With abstract nouns	El amor es para siempre.	Love is forever. / My head hurts.
With nouns referring to a general idea	No me gusta el pluralismo.	I don't like pluralism.
With nouns used in a general sense	No me gustan los tacos de bistec.	I don't like beef tacos.
With people's titles	La señora de Uribe dará hoy un discurso.	Mrs. Uribe will speak today.

The Indefinite Article

The indefinite article in Spanish is similar to the definite article and has four forms as well, and must also agree in gender and number with the noun that it modifies.

Indefinite Article	English Translation	Gender	Number	Example
un	a/an/one	masculine	singular	un libro a book, one book
una	a/an/one	feminine	singular	una oficina an office, one office
unos	some/about/a few	masculine	plural	unos libros some books, a few books unos tres meses about three months
unas	some/about/a few	feminine	plural	Hace unos años. A few years ago. / Some years ago.

The Neuter Article

There is also a neuter article "Lo" that is used as follows:

Lo interesante de eso es que... The interesting thing about it is that...
Tomamos lo aburrido y lo convertimos en algo interesante. We take what is boring and make it interesting.
Lo fácil de esto...The easy part...

Feminine nouns beginning with a tonic A

Feminine nouns that begin with a tonic or stessed A sound use the masculine definite or indefinite article in the singular but in the plural use the feminine article. Additionally, any other adjectives should use the feminine form. Some examples:

Noun	Example	English Translation
águila	el águila negra	the black eagle
águila	las águilas volaron	the eagles flew
agua	el agua	the water
agua	el agua clara	the clear water
agua	las aguas negras	the greywater
alma	Me parte el alma	It just breaks my heart(soul).
alma	las almas	the souls
hambre	el hambre	hunger
hambre	Tengo mucha hambre.	I'm really hungry.