Definite articles in Spanish are used to single something out, or talk about something there’s only one of.
| El perro negro estß contento. | The black dog is happy. |
El is the Spanish definite article used with masculine, singular nouns. In this sentence, there’s only one dog being referred to – the black one that is happy.
| La flor roja es bonita. | The red flower is beautiful. |
La is the Spanish definite article used with feminine, singular nouns. In this sentence, there’s only one flower being referred to – the beautiful, red flower, and not any other flower.
| Los perros negros estßn contentos. | The black dogs are happy. |
Los is the Spanish definite article used with masculine plural nouns. It is used to refer to one or more specific items, in this case, the black dogs that are happy.
| Las casas rosadas son grandes. | The pink houses are big. |
Las is the Spanish definite article used with feminine plural nouns. It is used to refer to one or more specific items, in this case, the pink houses that are big.
| El hombre estß contento. | The man is happy. |
Of course, you can also use definite articles when there’s only one of something to refer to. The one man that there is, is happy.
Here is a quick reference chart for definite articles in Spanish:
| definite articles | masculine | feminine |
| singular | el | la |
| plural | los | las |
To learn about indefinite articles, click here: Indefinite Articles.