The indefinite article refers to one individual out of a general group. It is generally used as "a" and "an" in English, but in Spanish you must look out for the gender and number (un hombre, una mujer, unos hombres, unas mujeres).
una pera (a pear)
un ordenador (a computer)
un diamante (a diamond)
una flor (a flower)
unos balones (some footballs)
unas manos (some hands)
Un ordenador es una máquina.
(A computer is a machine.)
¿Tienes una guitarra? Entonces tenemos una fiesta.
(Do you have a guitar? Then we have a party.)
Other uses of indefinite articles in Spanish are:
To identify a person with a noun that indicates personal qualities:
The qualities can be positive or negative.
- Eres un ángel. (You are an angel.)
- Eres un inútil. (You are useless.)
- Eres una buena chica. (You are a good girl.)
- Sois unos cobardes. (You guys are cowards.)
- Somos una partida de tontos. (We are a bunch of fools.)
- Ellas son unas chicas muy listas. (They are very smart girls.)
After the verb "SER" with nouns or profession, occupation, nationality, religion
(only if the noun is modified):
Review the examples:
- Él es español. (He is a Spaniard.)
- Él es un buen español. (He is a good Spaniard.)
- Ella es católica. (She is Catholic.)
- Ella es una católica practicante. (She is a practicing Catholic.)
Note:
- Yo soy profesor. (I am a teacher.)
- Yo soy un profesor estadounidense. (I am an American teacher.)
To indicate approximate amount with numbers and quantities:
- Tengo unos mil euros. (I have approximately one thousand euros.)
- Necesito unas diez mesas aquí. (I need approximately ten tables here.)
Remember that indefinite articles are not used with an unspecified amount of material or materials.
- ¿Tengo que poner tomate en la paella?
(Do I have to put some tomato in the paella?)
- ¿Tienes tiempo esta noche?
(Do you have time tonight?)
When NOT to use indefinite articles:
When the noun is preceded by the following words: cierto, medio, cien, mil, otro, qué, tal. Note how the meaning changes...
- Cierto chico viene aquí a menudo. (A certain guy comes here often.)
- Nosotros salimos en media hora. (We leave in a half hour.)
- Perdí mil euros en el tren. (I lost one thousand euros in the train.)
- Te veo otro día. (I see you another day.)
- ¡Qué tal mujer! (Such a woman!)
- ¡Qué lástima! (What a pity!)
Click here to practice the gender of Spanish nouns.
