Introduction to the Definite Article

Spanish for Beginners.

The word "the" occupies a unique place in the English language as the only word that grammarians classify as a definite article. It's not quite so simple in Spanish, where the English "the" has four equivalents. Like most adjectives, the definite article in Spanish varies with number and gender:

• Singular masculine: el
• Singular feminine: la
• Plural masculine: los
• Plural feminine: las

Although there are a few exceptions, as a general rule a definite article is used in Spanish whenever "the" is used in English. But Spanish also uses a definite article in many cases where English does not. Although the following list isn't exhaustive, and there are exceptions to some of these rules, here are the major instances where Spanish includes a definite article absent in English:

With abstract nouns and nouns used in a general sense: In English, the article is often omitted with abstract nouns and nouns that refer more to a concept than a tangible item. But it still is needed in Spanish. A few examples might help clarify: La ciencia es importante. (Science is important.) Creo en la justicia.(I believe in justice.) Estudio la literatura. (I study literature.) La primavera es bella. (Spring is beautiful.)

With most titles of people: The definite article is used before most titles of a person being talked about. Elpresidente Bush vive en la Casa Blanca. (President Bush lives in the White House.) Voy a la oficina de la doctora González. (I'm going to the office of Dr. Gonzalez.) Mi vecina es la señora Jones. (My neighbor is Mrs. Jones.) The article is omitted, however, when directly addressing the person. Profesora Barrera ¿cómo está usted? (Professor Barrera, how are you?)

Before days of the week: Days of the week are always masculine. Except in constructions where the day of the week follows a form of ser (a verb for "to be"), as in hoy es martes (today is Tuesday), the article is needed. Vamos a la escuela los lunes. (We go to school on Mondays.) El tren sale el miércoles. (The train leaves on Wednesday.)

Before verbs used as subjects: In Spanish, infinitives (the basic form of a verb) can be used as nouns. The article el is used when one is used as the subject of a sentence. El escribir es difícil.(Writing is difficult.) El esquiar es peligroso. (Skiing is dangerous.) No me gusta el nadar. (I don't like swimming. In Spanish, this sentence has an inverted word order that makes nadar the subject.)

Often before names of languages: The article generally is used before names of languages. But it can be omitted immediately following a verb that is used often with languages, such as hablar (to speak), or after the preposition en. El inglés es la lengua de Belice. (English is the language of Belize.) El alemán es difícil. (German is difficult.) Hablo bien el español. (I speak Spanish well.) But,hablo español. (I speak Spanish.) No puede escribir en francés. (He can't write in French.)

With some place names: Although the definite article is seldom mandatory with place names, it is often used with many of them. The list of place names using the definite article is quite arbitrary and can be found here.La Habana es bonita. (Havana is pretty.) La India tiene muchas lenguas. (India has many languages.)

With nouns joined by "and": In English, it often isn't necessary to include the "the" before each noun in a series. But Spanish often requires it. La madre y elpadre están felices. (The mother and father are happy.)Compré la silla y la mesa. (I bought the chair and table.)

Linking Hands, Catalans Press Case for Secession

BARCELONA, Spain — Hundreds of thousands of people waved flags and joined hands across Catalonia on Wednesday, in a show of popular force that Catalan leaders hope will revive their push for Spain’s economically most powerful region to secede from the rest of the country.

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Edu Bayer for the International Herald Tribune

Pomp and cultural pride at a ceremony celebrating what Catalonia’s residents regard as their national day.

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Edu Bayer for the International Herald Tribune

The human chain on Wednesday ran for 250 miles.

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Edu Bayer for the International Herald Tribune

Secessionists are seeking a referendum.

The human chain was formed on what Catalonia’s 7.5 million inhabitants celebrate as their national day. Last year, hundreds of thousands gathered on the same day in Barcelona, in northeastern Spain, in what was the largest separatist event to date.

Organizers of this year’s event insisted that even more people joined the demonstration, but official government figures were not immediately available. The chain on Wednesday ran for 250 miles through villages in the Pyrenees, close to the border with France, all the way to resorts on the Mediterranean Sea.

The turnout served as a stinging reminder for the central government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that the separatist push in Catalonia remains one of Madrid’s main domestic challenges, even though Mr. Rajoy has repeatedly warned Catalonia that any independence referendum would violate Spanish law.

Having regrouped after a setback in regional elections in November, Artur Mas, the president of the Catalan government, now appears as determined as ever to push his secession agenda. On Wednesday he told a briefing of foreign correspondents that “there is a Catalan road map that is perfectly established and that we’re following step by step,” all the way toward forming a new state. That road map “goes through the ballot box,” he added.

Mr. Mas shot to the forefront of Spanish politics with last year’s demonstration, organized as a show of popular discontent and separatist aspiration after Mr. Rajoy refused to grant Catalonia the favorable fiscal treatment it demanded. Catalonia’s leaders, who in conversation talk about Spain as if it is a separate country, remain determined to succeed in their separatist push.

Mr. Mas’s setback in November, when voters punished him for shifting attention away from his government’s unpopular austerity measures and other pressing economic issues, gave him unexpected breathing space. It also forced Mr. Mas to focus on Catalonia’s messy internal politics and form a coalition with lawmakers who share his separatist ambitions but not his economic agenda.

He and his parliamentary coalition partners say they are committed to holding a referendum next year, but their ability to stick to that pledge is far from certain, as is the shape that vote will take.

Many participants in Wednesday’s human chain, some wearing the red and yellow flag of Catalonia, said they trusted that their politicians would eventually force a referendum on the region’s independence.

“I want my first-ever vote to be one for independence,” said Judit Buxeda, who recently turned 18, the minimum voting age in Spain. “We want to be in charge and decide how to promote our own history, language and culture without being told by Spain how to do it.”

Mr. Mas has recently left the door open for further negotiations with Madrid, despite Mr. Rajoy’s refusal to cede any ground. This month, after holding what was meant to be a secret meeting with Mr. Rajoy in Madrid, Mr. Mas suggested that a Catalan vote might end up taking place as late as 2016, in the form of a regional election, rather than meeting the 2014 referendum deadline to which he agreed with his pro-independence coalition partners.

While couched in high-minded ideals, much of the recent feuding between Madrid and Catalonia has centered on the more mundane issue of whether relatively affluent Catalonia’s somewhat oversize share of the national budget should be reduced.

At the same time, Catalonia’s own financial mismanagement has come under the spotlight. Catalan politicians are entangled in corruption scandals linked to the construction bubble that burst in 2008. Last year, the government of Mr. Mas failed to meet the budget deficit target set by Madrid. It has also been struggling to reduce about $66 billion in public debt.

In Catalonia’s largest city, Barcelona, there were two separate human chains, one circling the Sagrada Familia, the unfinished basilica built by Antoni Gaudí. Large crowds also gathered in some of Barcelona’s main squares.

“Some people in Spain and around the world were saying that the separatist impulse of last year was dying down or changing, but this is a very visual way to show that this is far from being the case,” said Alfred Bosch, leader in the Spanish Parliament of the left-leaning Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya party, which has long pushed for independence.

While the mass gathering came to a peaceful end in Catalonia, a group of extremists, using tear gas, attacked a Catalan cultural center in Madrid in the early evening, leaving five people lightly injured, according to Spanish news reports.