Otro (Another, Other) | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Otro is the Spanish word for another or other. It is a simple determiner — four forms that agree with the noun — but it comes with one big warning label: never put un or una in front of it. Saying un otro café is the single most common mistake learners make with this word.

The Four Forms

Masc. sing.	Fem. sing.	Masc. pl.	Fem. pl.
otro	otra	otros	otras

It's a perfectly regular -o/-a/-os/-as pattern — nothing tricky about the endings themselves.

Never Say Un Otro

English uses an with another — in fact, another literally contains an. Spanish does not. Otro by itself already means another.

¿Quieres otro café?

Do you want another coffee?

Necesito otra silla para la mesa.

I need another chair for the table.

Ella tiene otras ideas mucho mejores.

She has other (much better) ideas.

The same applies to all the other forms. Never un otro, una otra, unos otros, unas otras.

With Definite Articles

You can use el, la, los, las in front of otro, and you often should. El otro día, las otras chicas are perfectly normal.

El otro día vi a tu hermano en el mercado.

The other day I saw your brother at the market.

Las otras estudiantes ya se fueron a casa.

The other students (f) already went home.

So the rule is tight: yes to el otro, no to un otro.

With Numbers

When combining otro with a number, the number comes after otro:

Dame otros dos libros, por favor.

Give me another two books, please.

English would say another two books; Spanish keeps the same order, otros dos libros. Notice that otros is plural because two books are plural.

Common Expressions with Otro

otra vez — again
por otra parte — on the other hand
otro día — another day
los otros — the others
otro tanto — just as much / as many
uno u otro — one or the other (note u instead of o before a word starting with o)

Por otra parte, también necesitamos hablar con el jefe.

On the other hand, we also need to talk to the boss.

Te lo he dicho otra vez.

I've told you again.

Otro as a Pronoun

Like most Spanish determiners, otro can stand on its own as a pronoun — meaning another one, other ones.

Este vaso está sucio. ¿Me traes otro?

This glass is dirty. Can you bring me another one?

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When you're offered something and want to ask for another one, just say otro or otra — no article needed. A waiter who hears ¿Me trae otra, por favor? knows you want another beer.

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Watch out for the combination o + o: when or comes before a word starting with o, it changes to u. So you say uno u otro, not uno o otro. The same rule gives you siete u ocho (seven or eight).

Otro is one of the simplest but most frequent determiners in Spanish. Once you internalize the no un otro rule, the rest is effortless.