Explanation
Spanish has four definite articles: el (masculine singular), la (feminine singular), los (masculine plural) and las (feminine plural). The article must agree with the gender and number of the noun it introduces.
Many languages have no articles at all, so learners routinely drop them. In Spanish, omitting the article makes the sentence ungrammatical.
Working out a noun's gender
Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine; those ending in -a, -ción, -sión, -dad or -tad are usually feminine.
The exceptions worth memorising
El día, el mapa, el problema and el idioma are masculine despite the -a ending. La mano and la foto are feminine despite the -o.
The el-before-stressed-a rule
Say el agua, not la agua, purely for pronunciation. The noun stays feminine, so any adjective agrees: el agua fría.
Key points
- El introduces masculine singular nouns; la introduces feminine singular nouns.
- Los and las are the plural forms of el and la respectively.
- Nouns ending in -ción, -sión, -dad and -tad are always feminine.
- Feminine nouns starting with a stressed 'a' take el, but adjectives stay feminine.
- Spanish uses the article for generalisations too: Me gusta el café.
Examples
El libro está en la mesa.
The book is on the table.
Las estudiantes son de Tailandia.
The (female) students are from Thailand.
El agua está fría.
The water is cold. (el, but the adjective stays feminine)
Me gusta el chocolate.
I like chocolate. (generalisations still take the article)
Common mistakes
- Dropping the article: Me gusta café should be Me gusta el café.
- Applying la to exceptions: la problema should be el problema.
- Forgetting to pluralise the article along with the noun.