Alejandra
Learning Article : How To Use Definite And Indefinite Articles In Spanish

Discuss the Article : How To Use Definite And Indefinite Articles In Spanish

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If you have trouble understanding the usage of Spanish articles, read this! We'll go through all articles, state what they are used for, their differences and how to know when they are necessary.

Mar 31, 2015 12:00 AM
Comments · 5
2

I might have found the answer to my question.  In the book, it does say "en el invierno" but it is referring to a specific winter... "en el invierno de 1621".  That makes more sense... carry on.

March 31, 2015
1

Hello! I have a question about "arte". I was taught that in the singular it's masculine and in the plural it's feminine, and this seems to be in accordance with the RAE dictionary (http://buscon.rae.es/dpd/?key=arte&origen=REDPD), but you say in the article it's feminine. Am I somehow mistaken?

May 30, 2015
1

Hi, Dave! That's exactly the answer :) My bad for not including that particular situation!

If you're just talking about something general, e.g. It's so cold in winter (Hace mucho frío en invierno) you use it without the preposition. But if you want to talk about a season in particular, e.g. We travelled to China in the summer of 2005 (Viajamos a China en el verano de 2005) you usually include the preposition. Hope it's clear now! :)

March 31, 2015

Hi Sam! All those words starting with stressed "a"/"ha" are, indeed, feminine. They just use the masculin form with the determiners "el, un, algún, ningún" but the word is still feminine. Arte is a bit of an exception, though. It is, indeed, always used in the masculine form when singular (regardless of the determiner) and always used in the feminine form when plural. Sorry that I forgot that in the article :)

But as for the rest of them, the rule is still applied: "El agua clara" (masculine determiner but feminine adjective, as the word is feminine). "Un aula oscura". With other determiners (such as "este, ese, aquel"), the feminine form is used, except of course with "arte":

Esta agua está muy fría.

Ese arte moderno no me gusta.

Hope it'a bit more clear now, sorry again! :)

May 31, 2015

Thanks for that article Alejandra.  I decided to comment on it as I was just reading a book and came across the phrase "en el invierno" and thought that I remembered reading that the article "el" was unnecessary when using "en" &  a season.  I googled "en el invierno" and there are many links to using that phrase.  I'm not disputing the correctness of what you wrote, it just seems that many people are unaware.  Thanks again.

March 31, 2015