Definite and Indefinite Articles as opposites when talking in a general sense about something

Question

I was re-reading the SpaniishDict lessons on articles and noticed the following:

For definite articles, DO "use with nouns used in a general sense."

For indefinite articles, DO NOT "use when not referring to a specific item, but rather the idea of the thing."

The wording is a little different for each, but it appears to say definite and indefinite articles have reverse applications when it comes to talking generally about people or objects.

Is my thinking on the right track here?

Answer 1

Well, I´ll try to simplify a bit.

First, for indefinite articles, the use is pretty much the same as in English, with not that many exceptions. The most common exception example I can think of is where we would say ¨I don´t have a car¨, one might hear in Spanish, ¨No tengo coche¨. In cases like that where one tends to have just one of something, they´ll often omit the indefinite article. The only other is that they have plural indefinite articles (unos and unas) whereas we don´t. Usually equivalente to our some. Unos libros. Some books.

Definite articles are pretty much the same as in English too, with the big exception of talking about generalities, where we omit the article, and they use the definite article.

I like classical music. Me gusta la música clásica.

We like Mexican food. Nos gusta la comida mexicana.

There are a few good articles on this here and elsewhere, but in general, this will be relatively easy for you (compared to say, a native chinese speaker) because We and the Spanish speakers are about 95% the same in this regard. Just learn a couple common exceptions now, and pick up more as your learn and refine.

Information clearly presented. Give this man many votes! - Jubilado, May 21, 2013

Thank you for the encouragement. I´m doing Spanish lessons with some software and it drives me nuts not knowing why usage shifts from one sentence to the other. - Trieltor, May 21, 2013

I´m that way too, but I can tell you life will get easier, when you figure out how to strike the right balance between knowing why, and sometimes accepting ¨that´s just how they do it¨. Either way will work, but some blend is probably best. Buena suerte - rogspax, May 21, 2013

Answer 2

These are very vague definitions of the uses of the definite and indefinite articles. After reading this I got out my small Spanish grammar book and could not find anything like what you are saying when not to use the indefinite article.

I would suggest you start with the meaning for the definite articles: el, la, los, and las are the (in English only one form) and the indefinite articles: un, una, unos, unas are a, an (English form adapted for phonetic reasons) and some. Find a book of Spanish grammar and read about how articles are used and when they differ from English usage. Find some examples of each point about usage.

Sometimes there is too much information poorly presented and it only serves to confuse. Instead of trying to deal with the confusion I usually just start over.

I´ve got a grammar book, but it usually leaves me frustrated (have to try to wade through all sorts of material way above my level to try, often unsucessfully, to try to pinpoint what information I am seeking). Maybe other grammar books are alot better? - Trieltor, May 21, 2013

I agree that is a problem with grammar books. If you check the ones in the library first you don't have to get stuck with one that's not helpful. Rogspax gave a really good answer. - Jubilado, May 21, 2013