To Un Or Not to Un

One tiny aspect of Spanish still troubles beginners of the language -- at least for English-speakers that is!

Un and una are the Spanish equivalent to "a, an" in English. Beginning Spanish learners often try to interpose their own grammar rules onto the other language. Sometimes, they might get it right. Other times, it can really sound strange to a native speaker.

First off, it is perfectly natural to make these mistakes. Many times you may not even realize you're making them. With a little extra effort, you too can speak more like a native.

Here's a quick run down of when you should and shouldn't use un, una in Spanish:

• Ser is the verb to be. It is often used and can cause some issues with un, una. You would not use un, una when referencing a profession (like doctor), a religion or group affiliation (like Catholic), or a social status (like bachelor). In English, one might use a, an for some of these instances, but not in others. For example in English you would say, I'm a doctor. In Spanish, it would just be soy médico. However, one could say in English, "I'm Catholic" without using a, an and it would make perfect sense. In Spanish, however, you would never use un, una in these instances.
• Tener is the verb to have. When you have something, you would use a, an. For example, you have a house. In Spanish, you would simply state, tienes casa without using un, una.
• Llevar is the verb to wear. When you wear one item of something, you would use a, an. For example, she wears a necklace. In Spanish, you would not use un, una and just say, ella lleva collar.
• Comprar is the verb to buy. This verb is a little different from the others above in that you would use un, una when referring to a single item purchased. For example, I buy a ticket to the movies. Compro un boleto para el cine is what I would say in Spanish using un. However, when using the baby future construction of Ir + a + comprar + item purchased [Going + to buy + an item purchased], you would not use un, una. For example, we are going to buy a house. In Spanish, it would just be, vamos a comprar casa. Notice there wasn't any un, una before the noun, casa.

Exceptions!

There are some exceptions to pay close attention.

With the verbs above when you describe the noun using an adjective, you would use un, una. Here are some examples to consider:

English	Spanish
I’m a good doctor. (profession)	Soy un buen médico.
He is a good husband. (social status)	El es un buen esposo.
She is a bad garden club member. (group affiliation)	Ella es un mal miembro de club de jardinería.
She wears a gorgeous necklace.	Ella lleva un collar maravilloso.
We have a big house.	Nosotros tenemos una casa grande.
I’m going to buy a little dog.	Voy a comprar un perro pequeño.

There are some words in English where we would use a, an before or after them. In Spanish, you would not use un, una before or after cierto (certain), cien (hundred), mil (thousand), otro (other), medio (half), semejante (such), sin (without) or exclamations using qué (what).

Consider the following examples:

English	Spanish
Certain: I have a certain medical condition.	Tengo cierto tipo de condición médica.
Hundred: You only have a hundred years to live.	Sólo tiene cien años para vivir.
Thousand: The prize is a thousand dollars.	El premio es mil dólares.
Other: Would you like another cup of coffee?	¿Quisiera otra taza de café?
Half: I waited half an hour.	Yo esperé media hora.
Such: They do not want to take such a risk.	Ellos no quieren correr semejante riesgo.
Without: He is in the rain without an umbrella.	El está en la lluvia sin paraguas.
Qué exclamation: What a shame!	¡Qué lástima!

Finally, the word con (with) may or may not use un, una after it. The main focus is whether or not you are referring to the number one (1) with the words "a, an" in your sentence.

Here's some examples:

English	Spanish
I signed my name with a pen.	Yo firmé mi nombre con pluma.
With a minute left, she won the race. (number of minutes)	Con un minuto restante, ella ganó la carrera.
The tree crashed into the house with such a force.	El árbol cayó en la casa con semejante fuerza.

Don't worry too much over whether or not you should use un, una in a sentence. Over time, you will get a better sense of when to use them.

Time to practice what you've learned. In the comments below, write some sentences using and not using un, una. Do you have any quesitons? Post those down below too.

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith