los
Lemma Details
Translation: the (masculine plural)
Part of Speech: article
Etymology: Derived from Latin 'illos', the accusative plural masculine form of 'ille' meaning 'that'. Over time, the initial 'i' was lost, and 'llos' evolved into 'los'. This evolution parallels other Romance languages where Latin demonstratives became definite articles. The English 'the' serves a similar grammatical function but evolved from Old English 'þe' and 'þæt', which are Germanic in origin.
Commonality: 100%
Guessability: 80%
Register: neutral
Mnemonics
- Think of 'los' as 'loads of' to remember it's plural.
- The 's' in 'los' reminds you it's for multiple things (plural).
Cultural Context
As in English, the definite article is used extensively in Spanish, but Spanish requires articles in many contexts where English doesn't, such as before abstract nouns, generalizations, and certain proper nouns.
Easily Confused With
Explanation: 'Los' is used with masculine plural nouns, while 'las' is used with feminine plural nouns.
Confused word:
Las mujeres están cansadas.
The women are tired.
Notes: Spanish requires gender agreement between articles and nouns, unlike English.
Mnemonic: 'Los' ends with 's' like 'boys', while 'las' ends with 's' like 'girls'.
Explanation: 'Los' is the masculine plural definite article, while 'lo' is the neuter definite article used with abstract concepts or adjectives used as nouns.
Confused word:
Lo difícil es empezar.
The difficult thing is to begin.
Notes: The neuter article 'lo' has no direct equivalent in English and is often translated as 'the thing that is' or simply 'what is'.
Mnemonic: 'Los' has an 's' for multiple things, 'lo' has no 's' because it's for abstract concepts.