un / unha / uns / unhas

Indefinite Articles

Level 1

"A" or "an" is un before a masculine noun and unha before a feminine one. "Some" is uns or unhas: un amigo, unha amiga, unhas mazás.

How It Works

The four forms.

  • un: masculine singular, un amigo (a friend)
  • unha: feminine singular, unha amiga (a female friend)
  • uns: masculine plural, uns zapatos (some shoes)
  • unhas: feminine plural, unhas mazás (some apples)

Spelling and sound. The nh in unha stands for the velar n, the "ng" sound of English "sing", followed by a: see Velar N: Unha and Final N.

Joined forms. After en, de and con, the article is usually written as one word with the preposition: nunha casa (in a house), dun amigo (from a friend), cun can (with a dog). See Contractions With Un and Unha.

When English uses "a" but Galician does not. After ser, a job, nationality or religion normally has no article: A miña nai é médica (My mother is a doctor). Add un or unha when an adjective describes the person: É unha médica moi boa (She is a very good doctor).

Un is also the number one. Teño un irmán can mean "I have a brother" or "I have one brother". See Numbers One to Ten.

Examples (6)

  1. Teño un can e unha gata.

    I have a dog and a (female) cat.

    Can is masculine, so un; gata is feminine, so unha.

  2. Vivo nunha casa pequena.

    I live in a small house.

    Nunha is en + unha, written as one word.

  3. Quero unhas mazás.

    I want some apples.

    Unhas means "some" before a feminine plural noun.

  4. Teño uns amigos en Vigo.

    I have some friends in Vigo.

  5. Hai un problema.

    There is a problem.

    Problema ends in -a but is masculine, so it takes un.

  6. A miña nai é médica.

    My mother is a doctor.

    After ser, a job normally takes no article in Galician.

Common Mistakes

  • Spelling the feminine form like Spanish una.

    Teño una irmá.
    Teño unha irmá.

    The Galician feminine indefinite article is unha, written with nh.

  • Using un with a feminine noun.

    Vivo en un casa grande.
    Vivo nunha casa grande.

    Casa is feminine, so it takes unha, and en + unha is normally written as one word, nunha.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

un / unha / uns / unhasLevel 1Indefinite Articles

Learn This First

Indefinite articles introduce an unspecified noun and agree with it.

Words in This Pattern

unsunhas