Spanish Tip of the Day: When to use the definite article before the Noun in Spanish

Spanish nouns are often accompanied by a definite article (e.g. el, la, los, las), and they are often used in instances where an article would not be used in English.

During a recent conversation in class, a particular sentence similar to the one below raised this question "when do you use the definite article in front of a noun?" Consider the following statements:

Viví cinco años en la Florida. 

Viví cinco años en Venezuela. 

 In both sentences you have the name of a location (la Florida; Venezuela), In English it is translated as "I lived five years in Florida." or "I lived five years in Venezuela."

It turns out certain place names include the article in the name: el Canadá, la Florida, la Habana, los Estados Unidos, others do not: Nueva York, Venezuela, California. You need to remember which familiar places that you speak of frequently take the article or not.  Remember that Florida takes the article: Yo vivo en la Florida.

But there are useful rules that guide you for other nouns. Sometimes the use or lack of a definite article matches English:

Pásame el arroz, por favor.  --  Please pass me the rice. (article in both)

Me gusta comer helado -- I like to eat ice cream.(no article in either)

1.Proper nouns in beginning of sentences usually take the article:

 La comida mexicana es deliciosa. Mexican food is delicious.

Los gatos son inteligentes.  Cats are intelligent.

2. Days of the week:

Tengo que trabajar el lunes-- I have to work on Monday.  

Ella llega el viernes por trén. -- She arrives Friday by train.

3. Languages: the general rule is you include the article when the language is the subject of a sentence, and you leave it out when it's the object of a verb:

    Dicen que el aleman y el ruso son idiomas muy difíciles.

Yo estudio español.

4. Body Parts and Things you wear: In English you say "My head hurts." In Spanish you say "The head hurts me," or "To me hurts the head."

Me duele la cabeza.

A mi me duele la cabeza.

Hoy me pongo los espejuelos de sol-- Today I wear sunglasses.

5. Time: Always use the definite article when telling time.

Es la una de la tarde. It's one o'clock in the afternoon.

Son las dos y media. It is two thirty.

Ella se acuesta a dormir siempre a las dies de la noche. She always goes to bed at 10:30pm.

(Remember that time is always feminine, because la hora is feminine.)

As you can see, Spanish uses the definite articles much more that English. When in doubt, use the article.