Why is it not "en el internet"?

Question

I know that in Spanish one says "en internet" rather than "en el internet", as in "Había tanta congestión en internet que no pude hacer la conexión.". But I don't understand why. Is internet regarded as something abstract? Surly there is only ONE internet. I looked under the reference section on the definite article but couldn't find any explanations. So, if you know, please tell me. Much obliged.

surely - 0074b507, Jan 29, 2012

Answer 1

Both my dictionaries (Oxford Compact and le Robert) defined internet as a masculine noun...!

According to the RAE, it is considered a "nombre ambiguo" which means that, strictly speaking, either article (masculine or feminine) is possible.

internet.

1). amb. Red informática mundial, descentralizada, formada por la conexión directa entre computadoras u ordenadores mediante un protocolo especial de comunicación.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

As to why one might find the complete absence of an article, the DPD has this to say:

Funciona a modo de nombre propio, por lo que, en el uso mayoritario de todo el ámbito hispánico, se escribe con mayúscula inicial y sin artículo

Namely, the word "internet" can be viewed as a proper noun, and as such, it is often written with a capital "I" and without an article.

The article also appears to substantiate Gekkosan's preference for the feminine form by going on to say that

Si se usa precedido de artículo u otro determinante, es preferible usar las formas femeninas (la, una, etc.), por ser femenino el nombre genérico red, equivalente español del inglés net

Diccionario panhispánico de dudas ©2005 Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

That is, if it is to be used with an article or other determinant, it is preferable to use the feminine forms in order to coincide with the gender of the of the more generalized term "red," a term which coincides with the English word "net."

Answer 2

Myself, I say "la internet". Female, because it refers to a network (una red). But I do use the article.

Both my dictionaries (Oxford Compact and le Robert) defined internet as a masculine noun...! - Pibosan, Jan 29, 2012

I don't, using the article sounds very odd to me. - cogumela, Jan 29, 2012

Seems like it's another one of those regional use things. It makes no sense whatsoever for me to think of any network (red) as a masculine noun. - Gekkosan, Jan 29, 2012

Answer 3

I found the following in "http://www.fundeu.es/vademecum-I-internet-5107.html"

"Internet puede escribirse con minúscula.

La Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española en el avance de la próxima edición del Diccionario recomienda que internet se escriba con minúscula por tratarse de un nombre común, aunque también acepta la grafía con mayúscula.

Aunque al principio fuera una palabra femenina (la internet), el uso la fue convirtiendo en masculina. Por ello, los adjetivos que la acompañan pueden ser femeninos o masculinos («internet es magnífico» o «internet es magnífica»)."

So basically, we can do what we like: Internet is bisexual/ambigender and ambiscula.

Answer 4

But alas I don't understand this rule about not using an article in front of proper nouns. I thought, erroneously it seems, that a proper noun needs an definite article to denote it's uniquiness/singularity. I tried looking it up on my Butt & Benjamin but couldn't find any rules on that. Is there anything about this in the reference section here, or elsewhere on the Net?

I'm sure that you could probably find something on the Internet if you were to do a search with the terms "nombres propios."

In any case, in the "Nueva gramática de la lengua española" published by the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, it has this to say:

Dado que los nombres propios incorporan la noción de "unicidad", se construyen prototípicamente sin artículo.

Given that proper nouns incorporate the notion of "uniqueness" (i.e. there is only one "Internet"), they are prototypically constructed without an article

Consider that in English, the rule is very similar. For example, we would normally say:

The girl is sad ? La niña está triste

(common noun accompanied by an article)

or

Ana is sad ? Ana está triste

(proper noun unaccompanied by an article)

However, it would be strange to say either:

Girl is sad ? Niña está triste

(common noun unaccompanied by an article)

or

The Ana is sad ? La Ana está triste

(proper noun accompanied by an article)

Likewise, when we deal with toponymns (names derived from a place or region), we find that it is generally more common to find such proper nouns unaccompanied by an article or other determiner. Compare, for example:

Spain is in my heart ? España está en mi corazón

(proper noun unaccompanied by an article)

and

The country is in my heart ? El país está en mi corazón

(common noun accompanied by an article)

with

The Spain is in my heart ? El España está en mi corazón

(proper noun unaccompanied by an article)

and

Country is in my heart ? País está en mi corazón

(common noun accompanied by an article)

With this idea in mind, I suppose that it would be possible to make the argument that the "net" represents a singular and unique place, a place which is described by the toponym, "Internet," a place name of sorts used in reference to the sum total of interconnected computer networks that occupy "cyberspace."

In any case, in Spanish, we see that the term generally follows this same pattern (at least according to such authoritative sources as the RAE)

I would say this is different. In English we say "the Internet" like we say "the Czech Repubic" or "the Alps". It just has a the there. In Spanish it doesn't. Am I wrong? - rabbitwho, Jan 29, 2012

Answer 5

My dictionary says that internet is a sustantivo masculino o feminino

Answer 6

Most of the time people just go with what is most common, even if it's incorrect. You wouldn't say "I found this funny cat picture on Internet" you would say " I found this funny cat picture on THE Internet." It gets to me like when people say "a idea" instead of "an idea" or when people write "your" when they should write "you're". I believed all hope was lost at least in my home county of Mexico where most people say Internet without an article, until I saw the recent presidential debate where every candidate referred to the Internet as "el Internet". I know I'm a huge nerd for this but it was like a light of the end of a tunnel for me. At last, people with some common sense...

Answer 7

Thanks, Izanoni1 for your explanations. It made sense, although the concept is still a bit counter-intuitive for me. I always have the notion (probably told by the French teachers) that all nouns in Romance languages liked to be accompanied by an article, and it's becoming more and more surprising that it is not the case in Spanish. So, following your sentence pattern, would you then say, "Internet está muy útil." and the La/El is not needed at the beginning. Correct?

Answer 8

As to why one might find the complete absence of an article, the DPD has this to say: Funciona a modo de nombre propio, por lo que, en el uso mayoritario de todo el ámbito hispánico, se escribe con mayúscula inicial y sin artículo

Namely, the word "internet" can be viewed as a proper noun, and as such, it is often written with a capital "I" and without an article.

Thanks for looking this up, Izanoni1. I thought, erroneously it seems, that a proper noun needs an definite article to denote it's uniquiness/singularity. I tried looking it up on my Butt & Benjamin but couldn't find any rules on that. Is there anything about this in the reference section here, or elsewhere on the Net? Just looked on Dogpile and it seemed in Spanish you say "en Google", too. Perhaps that's just the way it is...

Answer 9

I use .............por internet and have never been corrected, so looking at above posts I don't know now if I'm right or wrong.