Languages › Spanish 35 Country and Place Names That Use the Definite Article in Spanish Where in the World Do You Need a Definite Article? Print While you can say "el Brasil" to refer to Brazil, "Brasil" by itself will also do just fine in most cases. Maria Swärd / Getty Images Spanish Grammar History & Culture Pronunciation Vocabulary Writing Skills By Gerald Erichsen Gerald Erichsen Spanish Language Expert B.A., Seattle Pacific University Gerald Erichsen is a Spanish language expert who has created Spanish lessons for ThoughtCo since 1998. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on August 18, 2019 Use of the definite article, the equivalent of "the" in English, with country or place names is much more common in Spanish than in English, although it is not often required. The definite articles in Spanish are el and la, both meaning, "the." El is used to modify masculine nouns or places. La is used to modify feminine nouns or places. The only case where the definite article is used in almost all cases is if you are modifying a country or place with an adjective or a prepositional phrase. For example, Soy de España means "I'm from Spain," and no definite article is needed. But, if the place becomes modified with an adjective, like being called, "beautiful," then the definite article is retained. For example, Soy de la España hermosa, which means, "I'm from beautiful Spain." Another example, there is no definite article in México es interesante, meaning, "Mexico is interesting," but, there is the definite article in El México del siglo XVI era interesante, meaning, "16th-century Mexico was interesting." Four Countries and a City That Should Keep the Definite Article Read More Use and Omission of the Definite Article in Spanish By Gerald Erichsen Unfortunately, there is no way to predict when to use the definite article, although most of the time where English uses the definite article, such as when referring to the Dominican Republic or The Hague, Spanish does also. The following list included the countries that should have the definite article used in most cases, although Spanish language rules are not strict about it. El Cairo La Haya (The Hague) La India La República Dominicana El Salvador Other Place Names That Use a Definite Article So while you can say el Brasil to refer to Brazil, Brasil by itself will also do just fine in most cases. The article seems to be used more often in speech than in contemporary writing. For example in newspapers and online references in Spanish, Estados Unidos, the Spanish translation for "United States," is frequently written without the article. Following are the most common countries and places that may have a definite article: La Arabia Saudita (Saudi Arabia) La Argentina el Brasil (Brazil) el Camerún (Cameroon) el Canadá la China el Cuzco (city in Peru) el Ecuador los Estados Unidos (the United States) las Filipinas (the Philippines) la Florida la Habana (Havana) el Irak (Iraq) el Irán el Japón (Japan) el Líbano (Lebanon) La Meca (Mecca) el Nepal los Países Bajos (the Netherlands) el Pakistán el Paraguay el Perú el Reino Unido (the United Kingdom) el Senegal la Somalia el Sudán el Tibet el Uruguay el Vietnam el Yemen Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Erichsen, Gerald. "35 Country and Place Names That Use the Definite Article in Spanish." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/using-el-and-la-with-country-names-3079090. Erichsen, Gerald. (2023, April 5). 35 Country and Place Names That Use the Definite Article in Spanish. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/using-el-and-la-with-country-names-3079090 Erichsen, Gerald. "35 Country and Place Names That Use the Definite Article in Spanish." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/using-el-and-la-with-country-names-3079090 (accessed April 24, 2024). copy citation