Articles, nouns and contractions oh my!

The POWER of the article THE

1. There are four ways to express THE in Spanish
2. The four ways are:
El
La
Los
Las
3. The = el, la, los, las

Nouns




El
La
Los
Las
1. All Spanish
nouns are
preceded by:
2. Two things you can tell about a
Spanish noun by looking at the article
are: gender and the number
Wow, articles are
powerful in
Spanish!
gender
3. In Spanish, nouns distinguish between
masculine and feminine. (gender)

4. We say that ALL nouns carry a gender.

When a noun ends in:
5. -o it is normally masculine
6. -a it is normally feminine

gender
7. BUT, the gender of the noun is
ALWAYS determined by the article
(el, la, los, las)

La nariz feminine
La mano feminine



exceptions
8. There are exceptions: You have to look at the
article (el, la, los, las) to make sure.
Example: la mano

The article determines the gender so the gender of la mano
isfeminine

Not all nouns end with o and a
Example: la nariz,

9. The gender of nouns that dont end in O or A
must be memorized!

10. You cant predict the gender of a noun,
except in the case of a living creature.

Dont try to analyze the nature of the object,
looking for some inherent masculinity or
femininity. It won't work!

11. Example: el vestido
number
12. Spanish nouns also distinguish between
singular and plural.

13. We say that each noun carries a number.

If a noun is preceded by:
14. los or las it is a plural noun
15. el or la it is a singular noun

#
More than
1
Sooooo, the article tells:
16. The gender (feminine or masculine) and
the number of the noun (singular or plural).
examples of number and gender
El chico (singular, masculine)
La chica (singular, feminine)
Los chicos (plural, masculine)
Las chicas (plural, feminine)
El pelo
(singular, masculine)
La puerta
(singular, feminine)
Los ojos
(plural, masculine)

Day 2
Review
What are the four ways to say THE in Spanish?
El, La, Los, Las
These are called the DEFINITE ARTICLES.
What are the masculine definite articles?
El, los
What are the feminine definite articles?
La, las
What are the plural definite articles?
Las, Los
The Indefinite Article
17. Use the definite article (el, la los, las) to
indicate a particular object/person (THE),

18. Use an indefinite article to indicate a
general or vague object/person (a, an, one,
some)


The Indefinite Articles are:
19. Singluar Plural
Masculine: Un - A/An/One Unos - Some
Feminine: Una - A/An/One Unas - Some



20. If youre not sure which indefinite article to
pick (un, una, unos, unas), think about the
definite (el, la, los,las) article that goes with the
noun.
21. El -> un Los -> unos
22. La -> una Las -> unas




23. You DO NOT use the definite article and
indefinite article together. You pick one or the other,
depending on the meaning of the sentence.

24. The boy = el chico A boy = un chico

25. The girls = Las chicas Some girls = Unas
chicas





Day 3 Possession & Forced
Contractions
Review
What are the four ways to say THE in Spanish?
El, La, Los, Las
These are called the DEFINITE ARTICLES.
What are the masculine definite articles?
El, los
What are the feminine definite articles?
La, las
What are the plural definite articles?
Las, Los
Review
What are the four ways to say A/ONE/SOME in Spanish?
Un, Una, Unos, Unas
These are called the INDEFINITE ARTICLES.
What are the masculine indefinite articles?
Un, Unos
What are the feminine indefinite articles?
Una, Unas
What are the plural indefinite articles?
Unas, unos
posession
1. You cant use s in Spanish!!!!
2: De is used to show possession.
3. De means OF or FROM
4. You cant say: La chicas el pelo
You must say: El pelo de la chica
5. Examples: La boca de la chica.
El pelo de la muchacha
Forced Contractions
6 . You cant say de el. You must say del.
7. del means of the for de + el
8. Example La boca del chico
9. This is called a forced contraction.
10: WRONG: La boca de el chico
11. WRONG: La boca del la chica.
12. CORRECT: La boca de la chica.
Forced Contractions
13. A means at or to
14. Another forced contraction = AL (a el)
15. Example: La chica anda al chico
16. You cant say a el. You must say al.
17. You cant contract a + la.
18. Example: El chico anda a la silla.
formulas
al
19. a + el = al
20. Example: El chico anda al seor.

del
21. de + el = del
22. Example: El sombrero del seor.
Practica con al
1. El chico anda______puerta.
(a la/al)
2. La boca salta___________ojo.
(a la/al)
3. El ojo anda ____________chica.
(a la/al)
4. La chica salta __________ seor.
(a la/al)
a la
al
a la
al
Practica con del
1. El ojo______chico.
(de la/del)
2. La boca ___________chica.
(de la/del)
3. La mano____________seor.
(de la/del)
4. El pelo________clase.
(de la/del)

del
de la
del
de la