Spanish determiners
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The Spanish language uses determiners in a similar way to English. The main difference is that they are modified by gender (masculine/feminine).
Demonstrative determiners
The Spanish has three kinds of demonstrative, whose use typically depends on the distance (physical or metaphorical) between the speaker and the described entity, or sometimes it depends on the proximity to the three grammatical persons.
| Demonstratives | Proximal | Medial | Distal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | este | ese | aquel |
| Masculine plural | estos | esos | aquellos |
| Feminine singular | esta | esa | aquella |
| Feminine plural | estas | esas | aquellas |
English also used to have a three-way system: "this hill (here)", "that hill (there)" or "yon hill (yonder)" — in Spanish, "esta colina", "esa colina", "aquella colina". Standard English lost the third level, so that the "that, there" series covers the ground of "yon, yonder".
Este usually refers to something near the speaker (the first person). Ese usually refers to something nearer the listener (the second person). Aquel usually refers to something away from both the speaker and the listener.
The demonstrative determiners can also be used as pronouns, with the addition of the neutral singular forms esto, eso, aquello.
A similar three-way system of demonstratives is found in Portuguese as well as Slavic languages, Japanese and Turkish.
Articles
Definite article
The definite article in Spanish, corresponding to "the", is el. It inflects for gender and number as follows:
| Definite | ||
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | el | los |
| Feminine | la | las |
| Neuter | lo | — |
Thus:
- el hombre = "[the] man"
- los hombres = "[the] men"
- la mujer = "[the] woman"
- las mujeres = "[the] women"
The usually masculine form el is used instead of la before feminine nouns that begin with a stressed a sound:
- el águila (pequeña) = "the (small) eagle"
- el agua (fresca) = "the (fresh) water"
- el hacha (afilada) = "the (sharp) axe"
La is used, however, when el would imply a masculine noun:
- la ácrata (because el ácrata would be a male anarchist)
- la árabe (because el árabe would be a male Arab, or the Arabic language)
El is never used, however, before feminine adjectives that begin with a stressed a:
- la alta montaña = "the high mountain"
- la ancha calle = "the wide street"
Azúcar is a very special case. Its a- is unstressed, and yet it usually takes el even when feminine; in addition, azúcar can be of both genders in Spanish (other words with double gender are sal (salt), mar (sea) and sartén (frying pan)):
- el azúcar refinada (el azúcar refinado and la azúcar refinada are also acceptable)
Feminine el does not have the same origin as the masculine el. The latter is from the Old Castilian ele, whereas the former is from ela, just as la is.
There is also a "neuter article" that is used before adjectives and makes them work like nouns:
- lo bueno = "the good, what is good"
- lo importante = "the important thing"
- lo indefinible = "the indefinable"
- lo desconocido = "the unknown"
Indefinite article
The indefinite article in Spanish, corresponding to "a/an", is un. It inflects for gender and number as follows:
| Indefinite | ||
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | un | unos |
| Feminine | una | unas |
| Neuter | uno | — |
Thus:
- un hombre = "a man"
- unos hombres = "some men"
- una mujer = "a woman"
- unas mujeres = "some women"
Near synonyms of unos include unos cuantos, algunos and unos pocos.
The same rules that apply to the use of feminine el apply to una and un:
- un ala = "a wing"
- una árabe = "a female Arab"
- una alta montaña = "a high mountain"
As in English, the plural indefinite article is not always required:
- Hay [unas] cosas en la mesa = "There are [some] things on the table"
Possessive determiners
These are often known as possessive or genitive determiners. They are used before the noun they possess (and before the rest of the whole noun phrase, for example when an adjective precedes the noun). They inflect for number and in some cases gender as well.
Possessor Possessed |
1st-person singular | 2nd-person singular | 3rd-person singular | 1st-person plural | 2nd-person plural | 3rd-person plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | mi | tu | su | nuestro | vuestro | su |
| Feminine singular | mi | tu | su | nuestra | vuestra | su |
| Masculine plural | mis | tus | sus | nuestros | vuestros | sus |
| Feminine plural | mis | tus | sus | nuestras | vuestras | sus |
For example:
- Este es mi perro = "This is my dog"
- Esta es tu camisa = "This is your shirt"
- Estos son nuestros libros = "These are our books"
- Estas son sus casas = "These are his/her/your/their houses"
Given the ambiguous meaning of "su/s", this is often avoided, and replaced by other forms that clearly state who owns the thing in question. So sentences like the following can be heard:
- la casa de él = "his house" (lit. "the house of him")
- la casa de ella = "her house" (lit. "the house of her")
- la casa de ellos = "their house" (lit. "the house of them" i.e.: the house has more than one owner, and at least one of them is a man)
- la casa de usted = "your house" (lit. "the house of you" (one possessor))
Or even:
- su casa de usted = "your house" (lit. "your house of you" (one possessor))
- su casa de ustedes = "your house" (lit. "your house of you" (more than one possessor))
Note the following:
- There is no distinction according to the number (or gender) of possessors for the third person possessives (i.e. between "his/her/its" and "their").
- The possessive for usted and ustedes is su(s) as for other third-person pronouns. The ambiguity that this causes (especially considering that su(s) already covers "his", "her", "its" and "their") can be allieviated by treating usted(es) as a noun and thereby saying la casa de ustedes instead of su casa. It is also possible to disambiguate by saying la casa de él or la casa de ella, etc.
Dialectal variation:
- The archaic pronoun vos has the possessive form vuestro, just like vosotros does. However, in modern dialectal voseo, tu is the possessive corresponding to vos. Therefore, an Argentinian would say Che, decime tu dirección and never decime vuestra dirección or dime tu dirección.
- Dialectally, usted/ustedes may replace tú/vosotros without any intention to be formal. The corresponding possessive determiner su(s) is used. Therefore, a Colombian may say Hijo, enséñeme sus deberes instead of Hijo, enséñame tus deberes ("Son, show me your homework").
Combining demonstratives and possessives
Demonstrative pronouns can be combined with possessives as follows:
- Esta nuestra tierra = "This Earth of ours"
- Este mi amor = "This love of mine"
Strictly speaking, the presence of the first determiner means that the possessive must be interpreted as an adjective rather than a determiner. Note however that the long adjectival form (mío, tuyo, suyo, etc.), which is identical to the corresponding possessive pronoun, is not used in this construction, which is rather uncommon.
It is also possible to use the long adjectival form. In this case, it goes after the noun:
- Esta tierra nuestra = "This Earth of ours"
- Este amor mío = "This love of mine"
Miscellaneous determiners
There are many more words that can be used as determiners in Spanish. They mostly end in -o and have the usual four forms (-o, -a, -os, -as) to agree with their noun.
- ¡Otra cerveza, por favor! = "Another beer, please!"
- Mucha gente pasa por aquí = "Many people pass through here"
- No hay tanta gente como en verano = "There are not as many people as in summer"
- Ciertos vinos son muy dulces = "Certain wines are very sweet"
- He salido con varias chicas = "I have gone out with several girls"
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