culturealley.com/spanish : Learn Spanish for free using self-paced audio-visual lessons and interactive practice exercises - CultureAlley - master conversations, grammar, vocabulary and more! This lessons teaches the important interrogatives 'Who' and "whose' and focuses conversation around basic sentences such as 'Who is he?" "whose photo is this?" etc.. and finishes by teaching us how to use 'no' with the 'to-be' verb! To study this at your own pace, take quizzes and explore more lessons go to www.culturealley.com. See you at the Alley!

1. a/an
un/una
Lesson 14 | Definite & indefinite articles
the
el/la/los/las

3. ¡Hola!
Lesson 14 on Basic Spanish!

4. English Spanish
I am Yo estoy
We are Nosotros estamos
You (informal) are Tú estás
You (informal, pl) are Vosotros estáis
He is / She is /
You (formal) are
Él / Ella / Usted está
You are / They are
Ustedes/ Ellos / Ellas
están
Revision : Forms of ‘Estar’

5. Revision
English Spanish
How are you (inf.)? ¿Cómo estás?
How are you (formal)? ¿Cómo está usted?
I am fine Estoy bien
Can I smoke? ¿Puedo fumar?
Yes Sí
Where is the toilet? ¿Dónde está el baño?

6. 1 Definite and indefinite article
Lesson objectives

7. We will learn the difference between definite
and indefinite articles and their
usage in Spanish!
What’s in store today?

8. The difference between definite articles and indefinite
articles can be observed in the following two sentences:
1. Give me the red pen
2. Give me a pen
Imagine a box full of pens, with a blue, green, black and
one red pen, so when we say 'give me the red pen' we are
referring to a particular pen, while the sentence 'give me
a pen' could refer to any pen
Definite and indefinite articles

9. Thus, the difference between definite articles and
indefinite articles is that definite articles (like the)
are associated with specific or particular items
while indefinite articles (like a and an) may
refer to any item
Definite and indefinite articles

10. In English, 'the' is used as the definite article regardless of
gender or count (singular/plural)
Example:
The woman
The women
The man
The men
The definite article 'the'

11. In Spanish, the definite article 'the' has four forms
Examples:
el gato = the male cat
los gatos = the male/mixed cats (group)
la gata = the female cat
las gatas = the female cats (group)
Thus, in Spanish, the forms of 'the' vary based on gender
and count
The definite article 'the'

12. The definite article 'the'
Gender Singular Plural
Masculine/
Mixed
el los
Feminine la las

13. The masculine plural definite article (los) is also used to
indicate a group of mixed gender
Thus, 'los gatos' could refer to a group of 3 male cats, or it
could refer to a group of 2 female cats and one male cat
Grammar tip

14. So remember!
Gender Singular Plural
Masculine/
Mixed
el los
Feminine la las

15. 1 2 3
The books
(Hint : books = libros : masculine)
Try yourself
El
libros
Los
libros
Las
libros

16. 1 2 3
Solution
The books
(Hint : books = libros : masculine)
El
libros
Los
libros
Las
libros

17. 1 2 3
The magazine
(Hint : magazine = revista : feminine)
Try yourself
El
revista
La
revista
Las
revista

18. 1 2 3
Solution
The magazine
(Hint : magazine = revista : feminine)
El
revista
La
revista
Las
revista

19. We saw earlier that nouns in Spanish take up either
masculine or feminine gender
We noted that masculine forms usually end in -o (eg: libro
= books) and feminine in -a (eg: revista = magazine) and
for plural forms we add an -s at the end
Remember these rules as these will help you identify the
gender of the noun and thus the form of articles to
use with it
Grammar tip

20. In English, we use 'a', 'an' and 'some' for indefinite articles
Examples:
A book
An egg
Some books
Some eggs
The word some is used as a functional plural of a/an
Indefinite articles

21. In Spanish, the indefinite article has 4 forms, depending on
whether the noun is masculine, feminine,
singular or plural
un gato = a male cat
unos gatos = some male/mixed cats
una gata = a female cat
unas gatas = some female cats
Indefinite articles

22. Indefinite articles
Gender
Singular
(a/an)
Plural
(some)
Masculine/
Mixed
un unos
Feminine una unas

23. Un/ Una can refer to 'one' or 'a'/'an'
Example:
One book = Un libro
A book = Un libro
One magazine = Una revista
A magazine = Una revista
Grammar tip

24. 1 2 3
Some books
Try yourself
Un
libros
Unos
libros
Unas
libro

25. 1 2 3
Solution
Some books
Un
libros
Unos
libros
Unas
libro

26. 1 2 3
A pen
(Hint : pen = pluma)
Try yourself
Una
pluma
Un
pluma
Unos
pluma

27. 1 2 3
Solution
A pen
(Hint : pen = pluma)
Una
pluma
Un
pluma
Unos
pluma

28. 1 2 3
Some eggs
(Hint : eggs = huevos : masculine)
Try yourself
Unas
huevos
Un
huevos
Unos
huevos

29. 1 2 3
Some eggs
(Hint : eggs = huevos : masculine)
Solution
Unas
huevos
Un
huevos
Unos
huevos

30. 1 2 3
An egg
Try yourself
Una
hueva
El
huevo
Un
huevo

31. 1 2 3
An egg
Solution
Una
hueva
El
huevo
Un
huevo

32. Let's revise : The definite article 'the'
Gender Singular Plural
Masculine/
Mixed
el los
Feminine la las

33. Let's revise : Indefinite articles
Gender
Singular
(a/an)
Plural
(some)
Masculine/
Mixed
un unos
Feminine una unas

34. Culture Leaf

35. Culture leaf : National day!
Spain's National Day is held on 12
October, the day celebrated in
other countries as Columbus Day
or Día de la Raza, and
commemorates the anniversary of
Christopher Columbus's arrival in
the Americas
A military parade is held in
Madrid celebrating the occasion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day

36. In the next lesson, we will learn some
common expressions of time!
What’s next?

37. Content
Team CultureAlley, Okairy Zuñiga, Tomasa Merino
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day
Voice over
Jorge Garcia Rey
Images
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_Columbus3
.jpg
Credits

38. See you at the Alley!

39. Lesson 15 |Common expressions of time!