Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

El que no hubiera contestación me sorprendió.

The fact that there was no reply surprised me.

4.3.2 El de, la de, los de and las de have the meaning ‘the one(s) belonging to’:

Los de Barcelona se juntaron en el pasillo.

Those from Barcelona gathered in the corridor.

¿Me dejas otra máquina de escribir? La de mi hermano no funciona.

Can you lend me another typewriter? My brother’s isn’t working.

4.4 The indefinite article

The indefinite article forms of Spanish (corresponding to English ‘a(n)’ in the singular

and ‘some’ in the plural) are:

As with the definite article (see 4.1), the indefinite article agrees with its noun in

number and gender:

un niño (m. sg.) ‘a child’

una mesa (f. sg.) ‘a table’

un problema (m. sg.) ‘a problem’

unos libros (m. pl.) ‘some books’

unas mujeres (f. pl.) ‘some women’

Un is used instead of una before singular feminine nouns beginning with stressed a- or

ha- in the same way as el is used instead of la (see 4.1).

NOTE The full form uno may be used before an adjective: it may be thought of as a numeral in such

cases and always has the meaning ‘one’. Contrast:

Un valiente rescató a la princesa.

A brave man rescued the princess.

Entre los muchos soldados que lucharon sólo había uno valiente.

Amongst the many soldiers who fought there was only one brave one.

4.5 Principal differences between the use of the indefinite article

in Spanish and English

The indefinite article is not used:

(a) With nouns following ser which denote a profession, rank, religion or political

affiliation, unless they are qualified by an adjective or adjectival phrase:

Singular Plural

Masculine un unos

Feminine una unas

THE ARTICLES 4.4