From Gerald Erichsen,
Your Guide to Spanish Language.
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Definition: A somewhat arbitrarily defined small group of determiners that are placed before nouns. Articles standing alone have little meaning; when used with a noun they can indicate whether the noun refers to a specific one or ones of its type or whether it refers to its type in general. In Spanish, the articles also specify the noun's gender.

In English, the articles are "a," "an" and "the." Some grammarians also classify "some" as an article in some usages.

In Spanish, the articles are un, una, unos, unas, el, la, los and las.

Articles can be classified as definite or indefinite. The definite articles are "the" in English and el, la, los and las in Spanish. The indefinite articles are "a" and "an" in English (also "some" if that word is so classified) and un, una, unos and unas in Spanish.

Note that Spanish and English have different grammatical rules concerning when articles are needed or should be omitted.

Also Known As: Artículo in Spanish.

Examples: Boldfaced words are articles: The boy bought a book. (El chico compró un libro.) The doctor is eating an apple. (La doctora come una manzana.)