Do you always use el/la?

Question

I know you can say un, una, etc, but I was wondering if you are using a sentence like..."Waiter, come here." Would the correct way to say it be "El mesero, ven aquí." or "Mesero, ven aquí." I know el or la means "the," so it leads me to believe that you wouldn't say el or la, if you are trying to just say "waiter" and not "the waiter" Am I correct? Would you only use mesero, and not el mesero, for that sentence? Thanks!

Answer 1

Yeah... that's the way it'd be said...

"mesero, ven aquí"... although... it sounds very rude, I woulnd't call a waiter that way

And with the articles... even though we use them a lot more in Spanish than in English, it's often dropped... it all depends on what you want to say...

Thanks! I wasn't going to call a waiter like that, I was just trying to think of a quick example. - pieman34, Nov 15, 2010

Answer 2

If you address the waitor you don't say to him El camarero you only use el if you are referring to him in conversation with someone else and you wouldn't say waiter come here it sounds ill mannered you could say Camerero. puedo pedir por favor. Waiter can I order please.

Thanks! You nice person, you have answered two of my questions. :) And, I was just trying to think of a quick example, not actually use that in real life. - pieman34, Nov 15, 2010