Los pantolones/ pantolones cortos.

Question

In one example it says " Estamos describiendo los pantolones" next it says " Están llevando pantolones cortos."I was expecting "Están llevando los pantalones cortos." That there is an adjective(corto) in the sentence is the reason for not using "los"?

¡Muchas gracias!

Answer 1

Estamos describiendo los pantolones - We are describing the shorts (particular pair of shorts).

Están llevando pantolones cortos - They are wearing shorts (undetermined, just sort of "any" shorts).

Answer 2

The two statements are in different context. One says "We are describing the pants", the other says " They are wearing shorts." You would not use "the" in the second statement.

Answer 3

This may not be the reason in this context, but it is a pausible reason. Spanish uses the definite article rather than a possesssive adjective with body parts and clothing.

So it is possible that " Estamos describiendo los pantolones" means "We are describing their pants."

In the subsequent sentence a definite article or possesive adjective is not relevant.
"Están llevando pantolones cortos". "They are wearing shorts"; not "they are wearing their shorts."

There is a difference between using the definite article with unmodified and modified nouns (Issabela's answer), so that may be the reason and not the one that I gave. Mine is just a possibility.