Before nouns, equivalent of English the.
Formy:
| singular, masculine: | el |
| singular, feminine: | la |
| plural, masculine: | los |
| plural, feminine: | las |
Exception: before a singular feminine noun beginning with an accented a- or ha-, the article sounds exceptionally el instead of la: el agua, el águila, but: la arena. There are no exceptions in the plural: las aguas, las águilas. The article el merges with two prepositions: de + el = del, a + el = al.