Indefinite Articles in Spanish – Lesson 13

Quick refresher: el, la, los, las

This lesson builds directly on lesson 6, so let’s quickly refresh. In English there’s only one word for “the”. In Spanish there are four:

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	el coche (the car)	los coches (the cars)
Feminine	la casa (the house)	las casas (the houses)

These are the definite articles: you use them for a specific thing. Today we learn the indefinite articles: how to say “a”, “an” and “some”.

It’s an important lesson, so watch it when you’re fresh and focused, and keep your notebook close!

Un, una, unos, unas: a, an and some

Just like el and la, the Spanish word for “a” depends on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, and whether it’s singular or plural.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	un	unos
Feminine	una	unas

Masculine: un and unos

Coche (car) is masculine. “The car” is el coche. To say “a car”, el becomes un:

And in the plural, unos means “some” or “a few”:

Feminine: una and unas

Casa (house) is feminine. It’s almost the same as un, but because it’s feminine, we add an -a: una.

And in the plural, unas:

All 8 articles side by side

	The (definite)	A / some (indefinite)
Masculine singular	el coche	un coche
Masculine plural	los coches	unos coches
Feminine singular	la casa	una casa
Feminine plural	las casas	unas casas

Honestly, it’s not that bad: 4 new words, and they follow the same logic as el, la, los and las. And everything you learned in lesson 6 still works: the -o and -a rules, and a mixed group uses the masculine form (unos niños = some boys, or some children).

Good to know: un vs uno

In lesson 12 you learned that 1 is uno. When you count, you say uno. But right in front of a masculine noun, it becomes un. That’s why un coche can mean both “a car” and “one car”.

Recap: indefinite articles

Spanish	English
un coche	a car (masculine, singular)
unos coches	some cars (masculine, plural)
una casa	a house (feminine, singular)
unas casas	some houses (feminine, plural)
un hombre	a man
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■

+ 3 more words & phrases

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Practice: el, la, los, las or un, una, unos, unas?

Look at the English to see which one you need. Say it out loud, then click to check.

1. a man (hombre)

un hombre

2. the woman (mujer)

la mujer

3. some men (hombres)

unos hombres

4. a woman (mujer)

una mujer

5. the men (hombres)

los hombres

6. some women (mujeres)

unas mujeres

7. a book (libro)

un libro: libro ends in -o, so masculine.

8. some songs (canciones)

unas canciones: canción ends in -ción, so feminine.

Quiz: un, una, unos, unas

10 questions to see if you’ve got it!

Frequently asked questions

When do I use un/una and when el/la?

Just like in English: use el / la (“the”) for a specific thing you both know about, and un / una (“a”) for any one thing, or something you mention for the first time. Quiero un café = I want a coffee (any coffee). Quiero el café = I want the coffee (that specific one).

Is unos the same as “some”?

Pretty much. Unos amigos = some friends, a few friends. With numbers it can also mean “about”: unos diez euros = about ten euros.

Before you go to the next lesson

That’s it! Four new words: un, una, unos, unas. Practice them together with el, la, los and las until you can switch between them without thinking. Grab the free reference sheet below. Next up is another yellow lesson: a new verb! ¡Adiós!