ARTICLES IN SPANISH (III) THE RULES FOR INDEFINITE ARTICLES (UN, UNOS, UNA, UNAS)

Unlike what happens in English, where "a" and "an" are the only two indefinite articles, in Spanish there are four indefinite articles, which we use according to the following scheme:

Let's see some examples:

"La historia viral de un bombero turco que rescató un gato bajo los escombros y lo adoptó"  (The viral story of a Turkish firefighter who rescued a cat under the rubble and adopted it).

In this headline we have two examples of masculine singular nouns; "bombero" (firefighte) and "gato" (cat). As we can see in the table above, the indefinite article that corresponds in this case is "un", which effectively precedes the indicated nouns.

"Una alimentación correcta para unos dientes sanos y una sonrisa perfecta" (A correct diet for healthy teeth and a perfect smile).

In this second headline we have an example the noun masculine but plural; "dientes" (teeth) and two of femenine singular nouns; "alimentación" (diet or feeding) and "sonrisa" (smile). As shown in the table, the indefinite article that corresponds in the first case is "unos" ("unos dientes") and in the second "una" ("una alimentación" and "una sonrisa").

"Walmart se despide del mercado argentino: la marca desaparecerá del mercado local en unas semanas y se relanza con el nombre Changomás" (Walmart says goodbye to the Argentine market: the brand will disappear from the local market in a few weeks and is relaunched under the name Changomás)

This last headline shows us the remaining case, when there is a feminine plural noun. "Semanas" (weeks) falls into this category. The indefinite article used is therefore "unas".

Listen to the content of this post in Spanish in the following video.