Grocery List: when to use articles
How do you know when to write 'el' and 'la' when using a noun and when not to write them?
I wanted to write a grocery list, but I didn't know when to add an article. I wrote that I wanted celery, lettuce, and cilantro. I didn't know if I needed to write el apio, or just apio. I didn't want to say the celery, or a celery. How would you write some celery? Celery is written as singular in English. I didn't want to write unos apios. A few celeries? Some celery? Alguno apio. Algún apio, or algunos apios?
What about cilantro? Tengo que comprar el coriander. Is that 'the cilantro' or just 'cilantro'? How would you write some cilantro?
What about lettuce: la lechuga, lechuga, una lechuga, unas lechugas, or algunas lechugas, alguna lechuga?
1 Answer
The article is determinative if you say "la lechuga" you are talking about a specific lettuce.
If you are writing a grocery list none of the products is specific, you will pick any apple among a lot of apples even if you choose it.
I want an apio - Quiero un apio. Here you are just asking for any apio.
I want the apio - Quiero el apio. Here the person you are talking to, needs to know which apio you are talking about as for example.
Quiero el apio que esta sobre la mesa. I want the apio that is on the table. Here you could have a lot of apios in different places but you want a specific one..
The article is off when:
Go to the store to buy rice - Ve a la tienda a comprar arroz. Here you send someone to buy rice, any rice, you could use an adjetive to say green rice, red rice, old rice or whatever rice but is not an specific one.
And here with article is very very specific.
Go to buy the rice which is under the floor in the second shelf of the right corner of the armary in the store of Mr James. - Ve a la tienda a comprar el arroz que esta debajo de la harina del segundo estante de la esquina derecha del armario de la tienda del Sr. James
