Spanish: An Essential Grammar

Omission of the indefinite article with nouns in apposition

Like the definite article (see 3.2.2.3), the indefinite article is often not used

in formal Spanish before a second noun which offers merely explanatory

information about another one immediately preceding it:

Pasamos la noche en Medinaceli, aldea ahora casi desierta.

We spent the night in Medinaceli, now an almost deserted village.

Trabaja como televendedora, empleo que odia.

She works as a telesales person, a job she hates.

Omission of the indefinite article with certain indefinite

adjectives and numerals

The indefinite article is omitted with otro‘another’, tal/semejante ‘such a’,

medio‘half a’, mil‘a thousand’, cien(to)‘a hundred’, qué‘what a’, and

cierto‘a certain’:

Hoy la vi con otro chico. Today I saw her with another boy.

¡Qué imbécil es Paco! What an idiot Paco is!

Note: For cases where the article is used with ciertoand tal/semejante, see 9.15 and

9.16.

Omission of the indefinite article after certain prepositions and

phrases

The indefinite article is almost always omitted before nouns that follow sin

‘without’, and often aftercon ‘with’, ‘wearing’:

Salió sin chaqueta. He went out without a jacket.

Nunca se le ve con sombrero. You never see him wearing a hat.

Note: Exceptions are cases where the article is required specifically to emphasize

‘one’, e.g. Me dejaron sin un (solo) peso‘They left me without a (single) peso’.

When we place someone or something into a category or type, the indefi-

nite article is also omitted after como ‘as’, ‘like’, por ‘for’, ‘as’, a

modo/manera de‘as’, ‘by way of’:

Como persona liberal no puedo apoyar esto.

As a liberal I can’t support this.

Ella pasa por buena directora. She passes for a good director.

3.3.3.7

3.3.3.6

(^1111) 3.3.3.5
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1011

1

12111

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

20111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

30111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

40

41111

The indefinite

article

39