Learn Spanish Part No 5
Spanish Grammar
Definitive Article Part No 2
The forms el and
los are used with days of the week (often corresponding to English “on”. El is
used for single occasions and los for habitual practices:
Es el lunes cuando
vamos – It’s on Monday that we are going
No abren los
sabados – They don’t open on Saturdays
Vienen del sabado
al lynes – They are coming from Saturday until Monday
However, the
article is dropped after ser in sentences that merely identify what day of the
week it is, or after de in sentences that refer to routine practices.
Hoy es viernes – Today
id Friday
Trabajo de lunes a
viermes – I work from Monday to Friday
The definitine
article is also used with names of seasons, except when de and a season cmbine
to form an adjective phase. After the preposition en the definite article is
optional before a season name:
El verano es la
major epoca del
Ya ponen a la venta
ropa de otono – They are already selling autumn clothes
No vamos a la playa
en el Invierno – We do not go to the beach in winter
The de3finite
article is usually not used in dating letters –
Domingo, 16 de
enero de 1943 – Sunday, 16 January 1943
The definitive
article with parts of the body, clothing and personal possessions
The definitive
article is used in situation where English would have a possessive adjective.
In place of a noun
The definite
article occurs before adjectives, past participles, prepositions and relative
clauses, to refer to a noun understood from the context. It agrees with the
unexpressed noun 8in number and gender
The article
translates English “the one (s)” or “that”, “those”;
El rubo me cae mal
– I don’t like the blond one
Estos asyntos y los
discutidos ayer – These matters and those discussed yesterday
La de tu casa es
major – The one at your house is better
Las que se vendian
en Espana eran mas sabrosas – The ones they were selling in Spain
Definitive article
with numbers and numerical e3xpressions
The definitive
article is used with numbered nouns and with certain expressions of rate,
weight, measure and quantity
A los 60 anos – at
60 years old
En la casa no 3 –
in house number 3
El 60 por ciento de
la poblacion – 60 per cent of the population
Dos veces al mes –
twice a month
Mil dolares la
consulta – a thousand dollars per consultation
With percentages
the indefinite article is an alternative
The definitive
article is omitted before the cardinal or ordinal number that follows a title
Alfonso XIII - Alfonso the third
The definite
article with certain nouns
Unlike in English,
the definite article is required in fixed combination of noun and preposition
En la cama / el espacio
– in bed / space
Ir a la escuela / a
la Inglesia / al hospital – to go to school / church / hospital
The definite article with titles
The definite
article is used with most titles unless the bearer of the title is being spoken
to directly
Les present al
commandate y a la senora de Paredes
May I introduce Commander and Mrs Paredes?
Buenos dias doctor
Sanches
Good morning Mr Sanchez
The article is not
generally used with don, dona, fray (religious term for brother), san(to),
santa “saint”, sor (religious term used for sister), pertenece a don Miguel “it
belongs to don Miguel”
Informally, the
definite article may be used with common nouns referring to relatives .(but
never in direct address)
La abuela esta
sentada en el jardin
Granny is sitting
in the garden
The definite
article with names of geographical features and locations
This includes
unique features such as rivers, mountains, lakes, seas, occeans, straits,
currents, volcanos and deserts.
El tajo (the Tagus )
El golfo de Vizcaya
(The bay of Biscay)
El Telde (Mt Telde)
El mar Adriatico
(The Adriatic Sea)
El Cotopaxi
(Mountain Cotopaxi )
El Atacama (The Atacama Desert )
We may also include
el cielo (Heaven), el inferno (hell), la tierra (earth). Streets and other
forms of location are preceded by the definite article – la calle Alcala (Alcala Street
Names of teams
The definite
article (usually masculine) is used before the names of sports teams
El Betis , El
Sporting, El Barca,
Context in which
omission of the definite article is predominant
Names of countries
The majority of
countries do not take the definite article, unless the name is qualified by an
adjective or adjective phrase.
Millions de
turistas visitan Espana
Milions of
touristas visit Spain
Hay muchos
vestigios de la Espana romana
There are many
remain from Roman Spain
If the qualifier
forms part of a country’s name the article is not used :Irlanda del Norte (Northern Ireland
In addition, there
is a tendency nowadays, especially amongst journalists, to drop the definite
article before the names of countries that previously were preceded by it. This
is particularly the case with the masculine names
(el) Brasil
(el) Canada
(el) Ecuador
(el) Irak
(el) Japon
(el) Pakistan
(el) Paraguay
(el) Uraguay
Still bucking this
trend are – el Peru (used inside the country of Peru ),
El Congo , el Libano (Lenano)
and la India
In general,
countries whose names is a descriptive title still remain the article
Los paises Bajos
(the Netherland)
El Reino Unido (The
United Kingdom
La Republica Argentina (Argentina
On the other hand,
Gran Bretana (Great Britain )
and Arabia Saudi “Saudi
Arabia
With los Estados
Unidos “the United States
Omission of the
definite article with names of cities, regions and contents
As with countries
in general the article is not used unless the name is qualified
Vive en Barcelona – She lives in Barcelona
La Barcelona
de Gaudi – Gaqudi’s Barcelona
Some place names,
however, contain a definite article that forms an integral part of the name,
written with a capital letter in the case of towns and cities.
La Habana – Havana
El Callao – Callao
La Mancha – La Mancha
Omission of the
definine article with nouns in apposition
In formal Spanish,
the definine article is often omitted before a second noun which offers merely
explanary information about another one immediately preceding it
Raul, marcador del
The articol is
however always retained before comparative and superlative phrases
Fixed phases
In many set phases
like the following the article is not used
A orillas de – on
the banks of
En manos de – in
the hands of
A corto / largo
plazo – in the short / long term
En nombre de – in
the name of
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