I am confused about when to include and exclude the article.
I am very confused about when to use the articles with the nouns. I know it's a little lengthy but any help or suggestions are appreciated.
| 1 | Computers are repaired here. | Se reparan computadoras aquí. | Why isn’t it “las computadoras”? |
| 2 | Tacos are sold in this restaurant. | Se venden tacos en este restaurante. | Why isn’t it “los tacos”? |
| 3 | Meat and fish are sold here. | Se venden carne y pescado aquí. | Why isn’t it “la carne y el pescado”? |
| 4 | Friends (m) are invited. | Se invita a los amigos. | Two questions here. One why is it “se invita” and not “se invitan”? Isn’t friends plural, who are being invited? Or is it just one invite to friends, singular? |
| 5 | Museums are closed on Mondays in Spain. | Se cierran los museos los lunes en España. | Here the “los museos” is used. |
| 6 | Clothes are sold in this store. | Se vende ropa en esta tienda. | Again clothes is in the plural but vender is in the singular. |
| 7 | Popular music is played here. | Se toca música popular aquí. | I think the reason it’s not “la música” is because it’s using the adjective "popular" so it’s not needed? |
| 8 | Relatives were invited. | Se invitó a los parientes. | Again relatives is plural why not use the preterit in the plural? |
| 9 | The president (m) was elected today. | Se eligió al presidente hoy. | Is the use of the article here because the sentence begins with “The president”? |
| 10 | The newspaper is published every week. | Se publica el periódico cada semana. | Why not just use “periódico”? |
5 Answers
Gracias everyone!! I know you guys have talked about this subject several times so to continue to do so is deeply appreciated. Everybody has that light of understanding or the half-light or partial understanding. I’m listing the table again with what I’m comprehending from your responses.
| 1 | Computers are repaired here. | Se reparan computadoras aquí. | general computers, not specific, no article is needed |
| 2 | Tacos are sold in this restaurant. | Se venden tacos en este restaurante. | general tacos, not specific, no article is needed |
| 3 | Meat and fish are sold here. | Se venden carne y pescado aquí. | general meat and fish, not specific, no article is needed |
| 4 | Friends (m) are invited. | Se invita a los amigos. | When referring to an identifiable person(s) in Spanish the verb is always singular + a + the noun with the article. The article is used because it’s not a general person but identifiable person. |
| 5 | Museums are closed on Mondays in Spain. | Se cierran los museos los lunes en España. | Specific museums are referred to, those with Monday hours in Spain, so the article is used.. |
| 6 | Clothes are sold in this store. | Se vende ropa en esta tienda. | Clothes in English is plural but in Spanish ropa is singular. Since the clothes are not specific, but general, no article is needed. |
| 7 | Popular music is played here. | Se toca música popular aquí. | I think the reason it’s not “la música” is because it’s using the adjective "popular" so it’s not needed? Really it’s not the adjective part that causes no article to be used, but the fact that we don’t know what popular music is being played, so no article is needed. |
| 8 | Relatives were invited. | Se invitó a los parientes. | Relatives are identifiable so single verb + a + noun is used (include the article) because the relatives are specific. |
| 9 | The president (m) was elected today. | Se eligió al presidente hoy. | The article is used with addressing a person with a title, such as, The President. The single verb + a + noun formula is used. |
| 10 | The newspaper is published every week. | Se publica el periódico cada semana. | Why not just use “periódico”? Because it’s a specific newspaper, one published every week, “el periódico” is used. |
Any further mistakes or thoughts?
If you've plodded through this I really appreciate the time you took. I'm so sorry it took me so long to get to this point. I wonder how long I can keep it in my head!! 
The pattern is quite simple: all those sentences are translated as passive in English, and the article only appears with specific and identifiable references. In "meat is sold", it is meat in general, not THE meat that you know I have in mind (yes, that one I told you about!), so no article.
If you are talking about an identifiable person, then the structure looks similar, but it is not. This time the verb is always in singular, and the preposition "a" must be used. Sentences 4, 8 and 9 follow this pattern. The use of the article remains pretty much the same. "Se invita a amigos" is fine if they are not identifiable.
"Los museos" refers to each and every museum, and not just to "some unspecified museums". Remove the article, and the meaning changes to "some museums may close, others maybe not". We say "El presidente" because we mean the president of our country, or the one we are talking about: "The president", and not just "any president", plus in English it is written "THE president" too.
"Clothes" is plural... in English. "Ropa" is singular in Spanish.
Why not just use “periódico”? Because the English original sentence says THE newspaper, so it is not just any newspaper, but THE newspaper, the one you know and can identify.
¡Hola!, Bandit:
This would be a good time to review our Reference Page about definite articles found here ----> articles-definite.
Then, why not come back and ask any still outstanding questions you might have.
Also, some of your questions involve the use of "se". Have a look at this reference page to see if you can find your answers ----> Uses of "se".
Subjects need articles, objects don't.
All your sentences are passive - could that be the reason?
