Capítulo 1 Artículos y sustantivos (Articles and nouns)

Definite articles El and La are called definite articles. –Definite articles are specific. –They are the equivalent to the Eng. word “the.” –El is used with masculine singular nouns. el curso the course –La is used with feminine singular nouns la clase the class

Masculineelthe Femininelathe

Indefinite articles Un and una are called indefinite articles. –Indefinite articles are not specific. –They are equivalent to the Eng. words “a” or “an.” –Un is used with masculine singular nouns. un curso a course –Una is used with feminine singular nouns. una clase a class

Masculineuna, an Feminineunaa, an

Nouns Nouns refer to people, animals, places, things, and ideas. In Spanish, nouns have gender –They are either masculine or feminine. Most nouns that end in –o are masculine Most nouns that end in –a are feminine.

MasculineFeminine El cursoLa escuela El bolígrafoLa hoja de papel The definite articles el and la also point out if a word is masculine or feminine. (el is masc. and la is fem.) Both el and la mean “the.”

Spanish nouns that end in –e or a consonant must be learned as either masculine or feminine. You should practice them with their def. articles, el or la. MasculineFeminine El profesorLa joven El lápizLa conversación

Plural articles 1. The singular definite articles are el and la. 2. The plural of el is los. 3. The plural of la is las. 4. The singular indefinite articles are un and una. 5. The plural of un is unos. 6. The plural of una is unas. 7. Unos and Unas mean “some” or “a few.”

To make a noun plural 1. If a noun ends in a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) then you add an – s to the end of the noun to make it plural. 1.muchacha → muchachas 2.amigo → amigos 2. If a noun ends in a consonant, then you add an –es to the end of the noun to make it plural. 1.profesor → profesores 2.español → españoles

3. Singular nouns that end in z change to c in the plural (then you add the –es) 1.lápiz → lápices 2.nariz → narices

Agreement Just as an article and noun must agree when it is singular, it also must agree in the plural. A plural noun has a plural article. A plural noun has a plural article. The nouns and articles must also agree in gender (masc. nouns with masc. articles.; fem nouns with fem articles.)

Make these plural El reloj La ventana Un disquete Una mesa Los relojes Las ventanas Unos disquetes Unas mesas