Definite Article and Adjectives in Spanish

Audio 1:

¿Cómo es?

¿Qué es esto? Esto es un sombrero. ¿Cómo es el sombrero? El sombrero es negro. ¿Y qué es eso? (And what is that?) Eso es una silla. ¿Cómo es la silla? La silla es amarilla. (yellow) ¿Y cómo es el armario? También (also) el armario es amarillo.

¿Cómo es el cuaderno? El cuaderno es verde. Y ¿cómo es la libreta? La libreta es como el cuaderno. También es verde. ¿Qué es aquello? Aquello es un teléfono. ¿Cómo es el teléfono? El teléfono es blanco. La ventana es blanca. El abrigo es gris. El bolígrafo es gris.

Audio 2:

Vocablos

Notes & Explanations

Pronunciation Rules

The Spanish vowel e is pronounced as the English [e] (like in 'set' or 'pet', but slightly more tense), for example:

Spanish consonants before the vowel i [i] are always pronounced hard (there is no palatalization or softening like in some other languages), for example:

Meaning of words and expressions

¿Cómo? with the accent mark (acento) is a question word meaning how?. However, in combination with the verb ser (¿Cómo es...?), it is translated into English as What ... is/looks like?

Como without the accent mark is used for a comparison – like or as.

¿Cómo? in the function of the question word always refers to a noun and is used together with the verb ‘to be’ (here we have only the ‘is’ part – es), which, unlike in some languages (e.g. Russian), is never omitted in Spanish.

Compare:

Grammar points

1. Definite Article

Like English, Spanish has articles before nouns. Indefinite articles un, una you already know. The definite articles (artículos determinados) are el, la.

The article el comes before masculine nouns, while the article la – before feminine nouns.

The general usage of articles in Spanish is similar to English. For example, here we have one of many objects for un, una:

In the given examples, we speak of a table and a hat as objects in general, i.e., some table, some hat.

And here you already know what you are talking about:

By asking ¿cómo es el sombrero? What is the hat like?, we refer to a specific hat, e.g., the one that is in front of us. Replying El sombrero es negro The hat is black, we also do not talk about just any hat, but exactly about the hat that is black and is in front of us.

In Spanish, to show that you are referring to a known object or person, a definite article is placed before the noun.

However, not all the English rules apply in Spanish. We’ll summarize the rules by the end of the course. As for now, keep in mind that the definite article is also used in Spanish before nouns denoting general concepts, compare:

2. Adjectives (el adjetivo)

In Spanish, adjectives have two genders: masculine and feminine, the same as nouns.

Masculine adjectives end in vowels or consonants.

Feminine adjectives are formed from masculine adjectives in the following way:

• masculine adjectives that end in -o get the ending -a in the feminine form, for example:

  blanco

  white (m.)

  blanca

  white (f.)

  negro

  black (m.)

  negra

  black (f.)

• masculine adjectives that end in a consonant or other vowels remain the same in the feminine form, for example:

  gris

  grey (m.),

  grey (f.)

  verde

  green (m.),

  green (f.)

Exercises

I. Fill in the blanks with an appropriate definite article:

mesa es blanca. piano es negro. lámpara es gris. ventana es verde. abrigo es gris. sombrero es blanco. cuaderno es gris. lámpara es verde. bolígrafo es verde. silla es negra.

II. Add the name of a colour:

La ventana es . El piano es . El sombrero es . El armario es . El abrigo es . La mesa es . El cuaderno es . La silla es . La lámpara es .

III. Translate the following sentences into English:

Esto es una mesa. La mesa es blanca. Esto es una silla. La silla es blanca. Esto es un abrigo. El abrigo es gris. Esto es un piano. El piano es negro. Esto es una ventana. La ventana es verde. Esto es un armario. El armario es amarillo.

IV. Translate the following sentences into Spanish:

This is a piano. The piano is black. This is a closet. The closet is white. This is a pen. The pen is grey. This is a hat. The hat is yellow. This is a coat. The coat is grey. This is a chair. The chair is green. That is a lamp. The lamp is white.