Using definite articles + mismo to say "the same" in Spanish

To express "the same" in Spanish we can use:

El mismo / La misma /Los mismos/ Las mismas

Which one to use depends on the gender of the thing/person you are talking about, and also on whether it is singular or plural.

Have a look and listen to these examples:

Nosotros tenemos el mismo coche que los vecinos.We have the same car as the neighbours.

-Este profesor es diferente al del otro día. -No, es el mismo.-This teacher is different to the one from the other day. -No, it's the same [one].

Notice how "el mismo" is used to talk about masculine singular things/people. (el coche, el profesor)

Andrea lleva la misma camisa que llevaba ayer.Andrea is wearing the same shirt she was wearing yesterday.

No me cuentes de nuevo la misma historia.Don't tell me the same story again.

In the examples above "la misma" is used to talk about feminine singular things/people. (la camisa, la historia)

Tenemos zapatos parecidos pero no son los mismos.We have similar shoes but they are not the same.

Tú y yo tenemos las mismas aficiones.You and I have the same hobbies.

See how, in the examples above, we use "los mismos" to refer to a masculine plural noun (zapatos) and "las mismas" to refer to a feminine plural noun (aficiones).

But,

To refer to a neutral ideal (the same thing) use: Lo mismo

For example:

Marcos y Gerardo han estudiado lo mismo en la universidad.Marcos and Gerardo studied the same [thing] at university.

No es lo mismo ver una película en el cine que ver una película en casa.Watching a film in the cinema and watching a film at home is not the same [thing].

In this case it is always used in the neutral form (lo mismo)

Igual/Iguales

Don't get confused with the word igual. Although used in a very similar way, we will use igual/iguales when we refer to being alike/identical more than being the same thing. For example:

"Esas dos chicas son iguales." (Those two girls are identical.)

In this case the two girls may look very similar physically or you may refer to their very similar personality.

Also note that in this case igual/iguales agree in number but they don't have articles (el,la,las,los)

"Esas dos chicas son las iguales."

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Examples and resources

Nosotros tenemos el mismo coche que los vecinos.We have the same car as the neighbours.
Tú y yo tenemos las mismas aficiones.You and I have the same hobbies.
Andrea lleva la misma camisa que llevaba ayer.Andrea is wearing the same shirt she was wearing yesterday.
No me cuentes de nuevo la misma historia.Don't tell me the same story again.
Tenemos zapatos parecidos pero no son los mismos.We have similar shoes but they are not the same.
No es lo mismo ver una película en el cine que ver una película en casa.Watching a film in the cinema and watching a film at home is not the same [thing].
-Este profesor es diferente al del otro día. -No, es el mismo.-This teacher is different to the one from the other day. -No, it's the same [one].
Marcos y Gerardo han estudiado lo mismo en la universidad.Marcos and Gerardo studied the same [thing] at university.
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