Grammatical Foundations
The building blocks of every Spanish sentence
From words to sentences
Now that you know the sounds and basic expressions, it is time for the grammatical foundations. You will encounter these elements in EVERY Spanish text.
Focus mainly on recognising patterns. You do not need to produce everything perfectly yet — understanding is the most important thing for reading your first story.
Chapter
4
Articles & Gender
The key to Spanish sentence structure
In Spanish, every noun has a gender (masculine or feminine). Articles adapt accordingly.
Definite articles (the)
Use these when you are talking about something specific:
el
(masculine singular)
→
el libro
= the book
Standard masculine
la
(feminine singular)
→
la casa
= the house
Standard feminine
los
(masculine plural)
→
los libros
= the books
Plural of el
las
(feminine plural)
→
las casas
= the houses
Plural of la
Indefinite articles (a/an, some)
Use these when you are talking about something in general:
un
(masculine)
→
un chico
= a boy
Masculine singular
una
(feminine)
→
una chica
= a girl
Feminine singular
unos
(masculine plural)
→
unos libros
= some books
Means "some"
unas
(feminine plural)
→
unas casas
= some houses
Means "some"
Recognising gender — Useful patterns
-o
Usually masculine
Examples
libro, chico, perro
Exceptions / Tips
la mano (hand), la foto, la moto
-a
Usually feminine
Examples
casa, chica, mesa
Exceptions / Tips
el día, el problema, el sistema
-e
Can be either
Examples
el coche (m), la noche (f)
Exceptions / Tips
You have to learn it!
-ción/-sión
Always feminine
Examples
estación, televisión, canción
Exceptions / Tips
Like -tion in English
-dad/-tad
Always feminine
Examples
ciudad, libertad, universidad
Exceptions / Tips
Like -ness in English
-ista
Both possible
Examples
el/la turista, el/la artista
Exceptions / Tips
Gender determines the article
Examples in context
El chico come la pizza
→
The boy eats the pizza
La mujer lee un libro
→
The woman reads a book
Los niños juegan en el parque
→
The children play in the park
Las chicas estudian español
→
The girls study Spanish
El hombre tiene una idea
→
The man has an idea
Los estudiantes están en clase
→
The students are in class
