Do you know what’s the difference between un vs. uno and how to use them in Spanish? 👀

Un is an indefinite article used in front of masculine nouns: un libro (a book.) Whereas uno is a cardinal number and means “one” in English: uno, dos, tres… These two can be confused because in Spanish we use gendered nouns. Therefore, the indefinite articles (such as un and una) must match the noun’s gender. In addition, you have uno, which is a number (and sounds a bit masculine) that can be easily misunderstood when you take together un, una, and uno.

Let’s delve into it! I’ll explain what each of them is, give you some examples, and then you can practice using un and uno in your Spanish conversations.

Un and una are indefinite articles

What is an indefinite article? In English, “a” and “an” are known as indefinite articles, and the Spanish equivalents are un (used before a masculine noun) and una (used before a feminine noun). Remember that nouns in Spanish can be classified as masculine and feminine, so you need to use un and una accordingly. Let’s see a few examples:

• Un libro – A book
• Una bicicleta – A bicycle
• Un hombre – A man
• Una mujer – A woman
• Un carro – A car

Spanish numbers: uno, dos, tres…

Uno is a cardinal number and means “one” in English. Remember that you have cardinal and ordinal numbers; ordinal numbers are the ones such as “first,” “second,” and “third.” Here are a few examples of cardinal numbers in Spanish:

• 1 – Uno
• 2 – Dos
• 3 – Tres
• 4 – Cuatro
• 5 – Cinco
• 6 – Seis
• 7 – Siete
• 8 – Ocho
• 9 – Nueve
• 10 – Diez

What’s the difference between un and uno?

Un is an indefinite article (“a” or “an”) used in front of Spanish masculine nouns, and uno is a cardinal number meaning “one.” You can easily remember uno vs. un through an example:

• ¿Cuántos libros quieres? – How many books do you want?
• Quiero un libro. – I want a book. / Quiero uno. – I want one.

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Hope you enjoyed today’s lesson! 💜