Articles in Spanish LA-LAS and EL-LOS I wanted to write this entry to get corrections and trying to help with this topic (I'm not a teacher, so maybe there is an easier way to understand this topic) The articles in Spanish are words which define something; they are used to make emphasis. In Spanish we separate the words by genres female and male. The general rule for female words correspond LA for singular and LAS for plural; for male words correspond EL for singular and LOS for plural. They work fine in most of cases. FEMALE WORDS When you have a nouns which end with a vowel A you use LA: The house – LA casA The box – LA cajA The wedding – LA bodA The food – LA comida The shirt – LA camisa The table – LA mesa The word – LA palabra The wallet – LA cartera / LA billetera The page – LA página The waitress – LA mesera You use LAS talking in plural; you put LAS instead of LA, obviously writing the noun in plural as well. Some examples: The boxes – LAS cajas The shirts – LAS camisas The pages – LAS páginas The cards – LAS tarjetas The houses – LAS casas The aunts – LAS tías But there are exceptions only in singular. Generally the exception applies when you have a noun which ends with an A but also it has an A in the beginning making emphasis in the first syllable; that syllable is strong. In these cases you use EL Some examples: The certificate – EL acta The eagle – EL águila The ax – El hacha The water – EL agua However, when you use those exceptions in their plural form you use LAS: The certificates – LAS actas The eagles – LAS águilas The axes – LAS hachas The waters – LAS aguas MALE WORDS Almost all other cases you can use EL for singular. Examples: The glass – EL vaso The floor – EL piso / EL suelo The paper – EL papel The performance – EL rendimiento / EL desempeño The issue – EL asunto The bread – EL pan The tiger – EL tigre The envelope – EL sobre The boat – EL barco The belt – EL cinturón The lion – EL león As you realize, generally the words end with an O, E or at least those vowels are in the last syllable. For this cases you use LOS speaking of plural. Some examples: The papers – LOS papeles The issues – LOS asuntos The tigers – LOS tigres The belts – LOS cinturones The lions – LOS leones This also has exceptions, but I just remember one right now: The wall – LA pared And well, this was my explanation, I hope besides to correct me this is helpful for someone who are learning Spanish.