WORD CLASS: ARTICLE, ITS USES

1. The use of definite article would require quite a dense chapter. Here we will offer some patterns on how to use definite article in Catalan, whose usage is rather similar to the one existing in Italian or Portuguese.

2. The usage of the definite article when acting as a Subject is rather simple: no subject in Catalan may appear without an article; English, instead, avoids articles when referring to general or abstract concepts, even to uncountable nouns.

al nostre país l’aigua és escassa	water is scarce in our country
la gent es queixa molt	people complain too much
els caramels són sobre la taula	the candies are on the table
el cafè no m’agrada	I don’t like coffee

3. The main difference between the usage of definite and indefinite article is quite simple: a noun phrase that is introduced for the first time will take the indefinite article; actually it involves that the concept or idea expressed by means of that noun was previously unknown to both the speaker and/or the listener. If the same concept is introduced again, or if it was previously known, the definite article will be used:

– m’he comprat una novel·la + hm, sembla interessant la novel·la	“I’ve just bought a novel”. “Hm, the novel seems interesting”.
m’he llegit el llibre (previously known)	I’ve read the book
m’he llegit un llibre (previously unknown)	I’ve read a book

4. When dealing with the Direct Object, things may vary regarding the Subject.

4.1. For plural countable nouns and abstract nouns it is quite usual to omit any article (in case there were some, it would be indefinite):

volem justícia	we want justice
vols (uns) caramels?	do you want (any) sweets
vols aigua?	do you want any water?
tenim entrepans de pollastre	we’ve got chicken sandwiches

French, in the previous examples, would require partitives:

nous voulons de la justice	we want justice
est-ce que tu veux des bonbons?	do you want (any) sweets
est-ce que tu veux de l’eau?	do you want any water?
on a des sandwiches de poulet	we’ve got chicken sandwiches

4.2. Countable nouns in singular do require an article (if definite or indefinite, it will depend on what is was stated in §3 above)

5. Most time expressions including noun phrases require the definite article:

l’any / el mes passat vam comprar aquesta col·lecció	last year/ month we bought this collection
al gener no va fer gaire fred	in January the weather wasn’t too cold
ens veurem a la tarda, d’acord?	we’ll meet up this afternoon, won’t we?
a l’estiu no anirem a Peníscola	we won’t go to Peniscola in the summer
BUT: divendres hi ha una corsa	there’s a running competition on Friday

Observe how seasons, months and moments of the day are introduced not only by the article, but also by the preposition a. Week days, instead, are preceded by neither a preposition nor an article

6. Partitive constructions tend to avoid articles.

dóna’m un tros de pa	give me a piece of bread
per a la cuinada em cal un quart de quilo de carn	for the stew, I need a quarter of a kilo of meat
han construït deu nous quilòmetres d’autopista	they have built ten new kilometres of motorway
al carrer hi ha un grapat de gent protestant	there’s a lot of people protesting on the street
és un període de temps molt breu	it’s a rather brief period of time
necessitem dos litres de llet	we need two litres of milk
m’han donat tres setmanes de vacances	I’ve given two weeks of holidays
hi ha caixes de fruita pertot arreu	there are box of fruit everywhere
encara queden dues sessions de cinema	there are still two movie sessions left

7. However, some of these nouns do rule out article.

una part del públic va abandonar l’estadi	a part of the audience left the stadium
hi ha una secció de la biblioteca que cal restaurar	there’s a section of the library requiring renewal
la meitat de la setmana no sóc a casa	half the week I am not home