How to Say "The" in Spanish - How To Say Guide

/el/masculine

In Spanish, the English word "the" is expressed through several forms of the definite article, primarily el. Wiktionary also lists la and los.

Meaning: article (article)

Ways to say it

“the” in Spanish
Spanish	IPA	Note
el	/el/ /eɾ/	masculine
la	/la/	feminine
los	/los/	masculine, plural
las	/las/	feminine, plural
lo	/lo/	neuter

While el, la, los and las are used to match the gender and number of specific nouns, the neuter form lo is used with adjectives to create abstract nouns, such as lo bueno (the good thing/the good).

Which one should you use?

The forms differ based on the gender and number of the noun they modify. For masculine singular nouns, use el. For feminine singular nouns, use la. For masculine plural nouns, el becomes los. For feminine plural nouns, la becomes las. Additionally, do not confuse the article el with the personal pronoun él (he). The article does not use an accent mark.

How does it change in a sentence?

The definite articles must agree in both gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they modify.

How do you pronounce it?

/el/

What mistakes should you avoid?

When using an article, ensure it matches the grammatical gender of the noun being used, even if the concept you are describing is abstract.

Did you know?

Certain feminine nouns that start with a stressed 'a' sound, like agua, use the masculine article el to avoid a clashing vowel sound.
Adding el or la before a person's name is common in some dialects to indicate familiarity or contempt, depending on the region.
In spoken Spanish, the final 's' in los and las is often dropped or softened in certain Caribbean dialects, making the plural 'the' sound identical to the singular.

Examples in context

Él es la ley.
He is the law.
This is useful for showing how to identify a specific person or concept with la.
Tatoeba #1133075 by cueyayotl, translation #1133021 by bluepie88
No es el caso.
That's not the case.
This shows how to use el to state a specific case.
Tatoeba #1292112 by Shishir, translation #42351 by CM
La vida es así.
That's the way the cookie crumbles.
This demonstrates the use of la in a common expression.
Tatoeba #639349 by Shishir, translation #270528 by CM
El perro
The dog
El libro
The book
El hombre
The man
La gata
The cat
La casa
The house
La mujer
The woman
El café es delicioso.
The coffee is delicious.
Los perros
The dogs
Las gatas
The cats
18040 more sentences on Tatoeba

Example conversation

Elena and Javier are in a kitchen looking for breakfast.

Elena

¿Dónde está el pan?
Where is the bread?
Javier

Está en el estante.
It is on the shelf.
Elena

Gracias, Javier.
Thanks, Javier.
Javier

De nada, Elena.
You're welcome, Elena.

Sources

Wiktionary, “the” translations and entries el, la, los, las, lo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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How to Say “The” in Spanish