Definite: definite
| Values: | Def | Ind |
In Spanish, definiteness is used to specify whether we are referring to a particular entity that is identifiable to the listener/reader or to a more general, unspecified category of entities. It’s a feature that is visible in determiners.
Def: definite
Definte articles are used when we talk about specific items, individuals, or concepts that both the speaker and the listener are aware of. The definite articles in Spanish are “el”, “la”, “los”, and “las”. They correspond to “the” in English and they indicate that the speaker believes the listener/reader can identify the entity being referred to.
Examples:
- El gato está en la caja. “The cat is in the box.”
- Las manzanas son rojas. “The apples are red.”
In these examples, the speaker assumes that the listener/reader knows which specific cat or apples they are referring to. “el” “la” “los” “las”
Ind: indefinite
Indefinite articles, on the other hand, are used when we talk about items, individuals, or concepts in a general or non-specific sense. The indefinite articles in Spanish are “un” and “una”, corresponding to “a” or “an” in English.
Examples:
- Un gato está en una caja. “A cat is in a box.”
- Necesito un lápiz. “I need a pencil.”
In these cases, the speaker is not referring to a specific cat or pencil that the listener/reader would be expected to identify. Rather, any cat or any pencil would fit the criteria.
It’s important to note that in AnCora treebank, “lo” is given the Definite feature, which may seem confusing since it’s not a determiner but a pronoun.
In Spanish, “lo” is often used as a direct object pronoun to replace a noun that has already been specified. For example:
- Vi el coche. Lo compré. “I saw the car. I bought it.”
In this example, “lo” is used to replace “el coche” (the car) in the second sentence. This use of “lo” might show definiteness because it refers back to a specific, concrete object (the car) that has been previously mentioned.
Definite in other languages: [bej] [bg] [el] [en] [es] [fr] [ga] [hu] [hy] [it] [ky] [myv] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [sga] [sl] [sv] [tr] [u] [urj] [xcl]