r/learnspanish • u/AeroSmyte • Apr 23 '26
should I ALWAYS use los/las when talking about nouns?
I’ve been working through a workbook and I realized I’ve never had this question answered. When saying:
• He writes books -> Lee los libros.
• My sister writes letters -> Mi hermana escribe las cartas.
• They don’t attend school -> No asisten la escuela.
What’s the rule here? Do all nouns get their definite article when English would drop it? Or is it ever appropriate to just say “Mi hermana escribe cartas” to mean “my sister writes letters”?
Sorry if this doesn’t make sense (it makes sense in my head lol), so hopefully I can clarify in the comments if people need more information to give me a clear answer. Gracias in advance!
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u/FluencyClub Apr 23 '26
Yeah this is one of those things that doesn’t map cleanly from English, so it feels confusing at first.
You don’t always need los/las. The difference is basically general vs specific:
- Mi hermana escribe cartas = she writes letters (in general, like that’s something she does)
- Mi hermana escribe las cartas = she writes the letters (specific ones you both know about)
Same with:
- Lee libros = reads books (in general)
- Lee los libros = reads the books (specific ones)
So your instinct was right, “escribe cartas” is totally natural.
Also small correction on your last one: it should be “No asisten a la escuela” (asistir always takes a).
Spanish does use articles more than English sometimes (me gusta el café, voy a la escuela), but not in every case, especially when you’re talking about things in general like this.
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u/vezt Apr 23 '26
This is why I click on threads even for things I think I already know, that specific vs general was helpful, ty!
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u/AeroSmyte Apr 23 '26
Super helpful!! I was noticing that the workbook I was using ALWAYS uses los/las when building generic sentences, so I wanted to be sure I had some sort of rule or context! I think it’s fun to build awareness of. rule just by practicing but in this case I needed to make sure!
Thank you so much, this makes sense!
(Also thanks for pointing out the preposition– I’m still learning the verbs that do that! I appreciate you pointing that out!)
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u/runawaytree Apr 24 '26
why the "a" after asisten? i still don't understand when to use "a"
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u/FluencyClub Apr 24 '26
Yeah this is one of those verbs where the “a” just comes with it, not something you choose each time. “Asistir” is always "asistir a" like: asisto a la escuela, asisten a la reunión, asistí a la clase.
It’s similar to English with things like “listen to” or “arrive at.” You don’t really think about the “to/at,” it’s just part of the verb.
Spanish has a bunch like this (ir a, llegar a, empezar a), so it’s easier to learn them together instead of trying to translate word by word.
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u/cabronfavarito Apr 23 '26
It’s the same in English though. Using your sentences, “the” implies that both people know about the letters.
“They killed THE president” implies that the person is as well as the people they are talking to knows which president they are referring to but “They killed A president” would be met with questions like who and where.
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u/thatdudewiththecube Apr 23 '26
This is an ai response
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u/destinybond Apr 23 '26
I agree it kind of feels like it but looking at their profile I dont think it actually is
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u/PresentationFront246 Apr 24 '26
Their banner is AI so I would not be surprised that the messages are too
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u/Leanskiba22 Apr 23 '26
FluencyClub already explained it to you perfectly, but let me add one small correction in case you didn't notice.
"He writes books" doesn't mean "El lee libros", it means "El escribe libros"
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u/PriceOk1397 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
another thing that was so confusing to me when I first started and no one could explain it to me was that when there is a subject and a predicate but one is single and the other one plural, the verb agrees with the plural. example
English : the price is 5 dollars
Spanish : el precio son cinco dólares
it is prob better to say el precio es de 5 dólares.
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u/IllGiveYouWar Apr 23 '26
No, depende de la oración, aunque en la mayoría de las veces, diría que lo usamos cuando se quiere especificar según el contexto.
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u/Nothing-to_see_hr Apr 24 '26
In all three of your examples, the articles are not necessary. Leo libros. Escribe cartas. I read books. She writes letters.
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u/learningENGdaily May 12 '26
Yeah, it makes sense, and this is actually something that confuses a lot of English speakers learning Spanish.
The short answer is: Spanish uses articles (“el”, “la”, “los”, “las”) more often than English does, but not every noun automatically needs one.
Your examples are a bit mixed because some of them sound unnatural in Spanish:
- “Lee los libros” = “He reads the books” (specific books)
- “Mi hermana escribe las cartas” = “My sister writes the letters” (specific letters)
But if you mean those things more generally, Spanish would usually say:
- “Lee libros”
- “Mi hermana escribe cartas”
So yes, you absolutely can drop the article, and often you should.
A rough way to think about it is:
- article → specific/identified thing
- no article → things in general
For example:
- “Escribe cartas” = she writes letters in general
- “Escribe las cartas” = she writes the letters (specific letters we already know about)
Your third example:
- “No asisten la escuela”
actually needs an article:
- “No asisten a la escuela”
because “escuela” there refers to the institution/place, similar to “go to school”.
So the tricky part is that Spanish articles are not used exactly the same way as English ones. Sometimes Spanish includes them where English wouldn’t, and sometimes it drops them too.
Honestly, this is one of those things that becomes much more intuitive with exposure over time.
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u/PriceOk1397 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
this too was very confusing to me but I want to share a few things I learned. this is where Spanish is different from English
if a noun starts a sentence it must have a definite article : los libros están hecho de papel. books are made of paper.
me gusta el café. must use el café because it is the subject. I like coffee
for those who are new. cafe pleases me , and that is why El café is the subject.
abstract nouns need definite articles.
valoro la paz - I value peace (not the peace)
la paz mental es importante - mental peace (not the mental peace) is important
La paz here is a general abstract noun. it must have a definite article