Definite Article for "Idea"

[Jose Enrique Rodo]

One sees both "la" and "el" used to modify "idea." Is this because "el idea" has a meaning different from "la idea", or is strictly optional, or is one of them a solecism? Thanks for any advice.

[MartaTomTom]

Hi, Jose Enrique

As you can see in this link from the RAE, “idea” as a noun is always feminine and therefore the correct definite article is “la”. Ex.: Tuvo la idea del siglo.

I’ve checked online and there’s an acronym (see here) which is used with the definite article “el”, but that’s different because the “i” in IDEA stands for “instituto”, which is masculine in Spanish.

On the other hand, I was wondering if you perhaps have seen something like “el ideal de belleza”. In this case, “ideal”, as a noun, is a completely different word (check the fifth definition here). If you use “ideal” as an adjective, then the definite article will depend on the noun used. Compare El vestido ideal ('vestido' is masculine) with La gorra ideal ('gorra' is feminine).

Hope this helps

[Lorei]

Siempre se dice "la"/"una" idea y nunca "el" idea.