Learn how to use indefinite articles
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Anna: Hola soy Anna. |
| Eric: Eric here! Using the Spanish Indefinite Articles. |
| Anna: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the indefinite articles un and una. |
| Eric: This conversation takes place at work around lunchtime. |
| Anna: And it’s between Santiago and Daniel, two co-workers who want to order something for lunch. |
| Eric: The speakers are co-workers, so they'll be speaking casually. |
| Anna: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Santiago: Me apetece una hamburguesa. |
| Daniel: ¿Por qué no pedimos una pizza? |
| Santiago: ¿Una pizza? |
| Daniel: Sí, si pedimos una pizza familiar te regalan un helado. |
| Santiago: Vale, voy a llamar. |
| Eric: Now let's listen to the same conversation at a slow speed. |
| Santiago: Me apetece una hamburguesa. |
| Daniel: ¿Por qué no pedimos una pizza? |
| Santiago: ¿Una pizza? |
| Daniel: Sí, si pedimos una pizza familiar te regalan un helado. |
| Santiago: Vale, voy a llamar. |
| Eric: Now let's listen to the conversation with English translation. |
| Santiago: Me apetece una hamburguesa. |
| Santiago: I feel like a hamburger. |
| Daniel: ¿Por qué no pedimos una pizza? |
| Daniel: Why don't we order a pizza? |
| Santiago: ¿Una pizza? |
| Santiago: A pizza? |
| Daniel: Sí, si pedimos una pizza familiar te regalan un helado. |
| Daniel: Yes, if we order a family-sized one, an ice cream is included for free. |
| Santiago: Vale, voy a llamar. |
| Santiago: Okay, I'm going to call. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Anna: In Spain, fast food has become very popular, and there are four major fast food restaurants—McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Pans &Company. |
| Eric: It's quite common to order a pizza and some drinks and have dinner with some friends. |
| Anna: That’s right. It's also very normal to order some fast food for your soccer party at night. |
| Eric: However, fast food restaurants also have a reputation for being bad food—not bad-tasting food—just food that isn't very nutritious. |
| Anna: That's why many Spanish fast food companies have begun adding a more "Mediterranean"-style product to their menus. For example, a Mediterranean pizza with olive oil or burgers with vegetables and grilled chicken. |
| Eric: Okay. Now, let's take a look at the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Anna: apetecer |
| Eric: to feel like, to desire, to want to |
| Anna: apetecer [slowly] |
| Anna: apetecer |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: comer |
| Eric: to eat |
| Anna: comer |
| Anna: comer |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: hamburguesa |
| Eric: hamburger |
| Anna: hamburguesa [slowly] |
| Anna: hamburguesa |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: pizza |
| Eric: pizza |
| Anna: pizza [slowly] |
| Anna: pizza |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: pedir |
| Eric: to order |
| Anna: pedir [slowly] |
| Anna: pedir |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: un, una |
| Eric: a, an |
| Anna: un, una [slowly] |
| Anna: un, una |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: llamar |
| Eric: to call |
| Anna: llamar [slowly] |
| Anna: llamar |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: regalar |
| Eric: to give (as a present) |
| Anna: regalar [slowly] |
| Anna: regalar |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: helado |
| Eric: ice cream |
| Anna: helado [slowly] |
| Anna: helado |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Anna: vale |
| Eric: okay |
| Anna: vale [slowly] |
| Anna: vale |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at few words and phrase from the lesson. |
| Anna: The first word we'll look at is apetecer, which means "to feel like” or “to desire.” |
| Eric: We usually translate this verb as "to want", but it has an extra meaning. |
| Anna: That's right. When we say, Me apetece un helado, it means "I feel like (eating) an ice cream," and the feeling is "I want to eat it now." If we say, Quiero comer sushi, it means "I want to eat sushi," but the sentence doesn't have the same urgency to it. |
| Eric: The translation is the same, but the feeling is different. What's our next word? |
| Anna: The next word we'll look at is pedir, which means "to order." It has other meanings, but it's used in the dialogue as "to order." |
| Eric: Could you give us some examples? |
| Anna: Sure! You could say, Voy a pedir una pizza, which translates as "I'm going to order a pizza." Or you could say, Ya pedí el nuevo iPhone, which means "I already ordered the new iPhone." |
| Eric: Excellent. What's our next word? |
| Anna: The next word we'll look at is regalar, which means "to give," but more specifically "to give a present to." |
| Eric: And it's a regular -ar verb, right? |
| Anna: Right. Now, we have to differentiate the verb regalar, meaning "to give a present," from the verb dar, which means "to give." Both mean "to give," but we specifically use the verb regalar when something is given as a present or for free. |
| Eric: So in our dialogue, Daniel said... |
| Anna: ...te regalan un helado, |
| Eric: Which means "they give you an ice cream for free." If he had said... |
| Anna: ...te dan un helado, |
| Eric: ...it would mean "they give you an ice cream," but maybe you'd have to pay for it. It isn't clear whether it’s free or not. |
| Anna: Alright. Now, let's move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Anna: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the indefinite articles un, una, unos, and unas. |
| Eric: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase… |
| Anna: Me apetece una hamburguesa. |
| Eric: Which translates as, "I feel like eating a hamburger." We've already looked at the different uses and rules of definite articles. In this lesson, we'll look at how indefinite articles work in Spanish. |
| Anna: That's right. For comparison, the indefinite articles in English are "a," "an," and "some." We always use them before nouns. For example, "a person," "some place," "a thing," or "an idea." |
| Eric: Exactly. Indefinite articles are non-specific or "not definite." In Spanish, there are four indefinites articles; two are masculine and two are feminine. |
| Anna: The masculine indefinite articles are un for "a" and "an," and unos which translates as "some." The feminine indefinite articles are una for "a" and "an," and unas for "some." |
| Eric: And the rule here is that you use indefinite articles to refer to an individual out of a group. Could you give us an example sentence of that, *? |
| Anna: Sure. El baloncesto es un deporte, which translates as, "Basketball is a sport." So here, "sports" is a group, and basketball is one of them. |
| Eric: A second rule is to use an indefinite article to refer to something non-specific. |
| Anna: For example, un perro means "a dog," or una persona means "a person." Our third rule is to use indefinite articles after the verb.. haber. An example of this would be, Hay unos libros en la mesa. |
| Eric: This translates to, "There are some books on the table." |
| Anna: You have hay, which is from haber, and then an indefinite article after it. |
| Eric: Our next rule is to use indefinite articles when indicating an approximate amount with numbers and quantities. |
| Anna: For example, Cuesta unos diez dólares which means, "It costs about ten dollars." Or, Pesa unos tres kilos, meaning, "It weighs about three kilograms." |
| Eric: These rules have exceptions, as always. |
| Anna: One of those exceptions is when nouns of professions, occupations, nationality, or religion come after the verb ser and the noun is modified by an adjective, then we use the indefinite article. |
| Eric: I think we need some examples for that one. |
| Anna: Normally, it would be, El es profesor, which means, "He's a teacher." In Spanish, there isn't an indefinite article, but there is one in English. |
| Eric: But if we wanted to say, "He's an excellent teacher," then Spanish would use the indefinite article, right? |
| Anna: Right. "He's an excellent teacher" would be, El es un excelente profesor in Spanish. |
| HOMEWORK |
| Eric: Okay. Now before we go, let’s give the answer from the previous lesson’s homework. |
| Anna: The answer for the tarea is Sentence #1, Las diez niños vinieron a jugar. Sentence #1 is incorrect, and the correct sentence should be: Los diez niños vinieron a jugar. |
| Eric: Now, it’s time for this lesson’s homework. |
| Anna: One of these sentences is missing the indefinite article. Which one? |
| El doctor es especialista famoso. |
| Los estudiantes son los mejores de la escuela. |
| El ingeniero es colombiano. |
Outro |
| Eric: Well, that just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Anna: ¡Hasta luego! |
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