Articles – Free Exercise

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Exercise A1

Write in the indefinite article and the definite article for each noun.

artículo indeterminadoartículo determinado
  bicicleta   bicicleta[a bicycle, the bicycle]|feminine: una, la|Nouns ending with a are normally feminine.
  libro   libro[a book, the book]|masculine: un, el|Nouns ending with o are normally masculine.
  coche   coche[a car, the car]|masculine: un, el|For nouns ending with e, we need to check the dictionary, because they could be feminine or masculine.
  nube   nube[a cloud, the cloud]|feminine: una, la|For nouns ending with e, we need to check the dictionary, because they could be feminine or masculine.
  vacaciones   vacaciones[holidays, the holidays]|feminine plural noun: unas, las|For nouns that only occur in the plural in Spanish, we use the indefinite article. (This doesn’t happen in English.)

Type in the prepositions with the definite article. When it’s possible, combine the preposition and article into one word.

  1. No te olvides (de)   café![Don’t forget the coffee!]|de + el = del
  2. Debes devolver el dinero (a)   padre de Luis.[You have to give the money back to the father of Luis.]|a + el = al
  3. Es el director (de)   escuela.[He is the director of the school.]|The feminine article cannot be combined with prepositions.
  4. El verano pasado me fui de viaje (a)   Estados Unidos.[Last summer, I travelled to the United States.]|The plural article cannot be combined with prepositions.
  5. ¿Por qué no vienes (a)   teatro con nosotros?[Why don’t you come to the theatre with us?]|a + el = al

Choose the correct article. If no article is needed, select the dash (-).

  1. Mi primo es cantante muy conocido.[My cousin is a well-known singer.]|He is one of many well-known singers → indefinite article|masculine: un
  2. ¿Hablas español?[Do you speak Spanish?]|With hablar, escribir, leer, entender un idioma (to speak, write, read, understand a language), we don’t use an article.
  3. ¡Patricia! ¡ paella se está quemando![Patricia! The paella is burning!]|something specific, known to the addressee → definite article|feminine: la
  4. Viajamos en tren.[We’re going by train.]|For means of transport with the preposition en, we don’t use an article.
  5. bueno es que no cuesta nada.[The good thing is that it doesn’t cost anything.]|Before nouns made from adjectives, participles, or numerals, we use the definite article lo.