An
adjective is a word that modifies (describes) a noun. There are different types of adjectives that indicate possession, demonstrate distance, and make comparisons. A Spanish adjective will change its ending to match the gender and number of the noun it describes. When you look up an adjective in the dictionary, it is always listed in its singular masculine form. It is up to you to know the rules to change an adjective to its feminine and/or plural form. If you want to use an adjective correctly in a complete sentence, you must consider the gender of the noun you want the adjective to describe in the sentence. Then you must use the correct form of the adjective and place it either in front of that noun or behind that noun based on the rules of Spanish grammar.
Adjectives and gender
It's important to understand that an adjective will always be listed in dictionaries and vocabulary lists in the singular masculine form. In this form, most adjectives end in -
o but there are a few that end -
e or a consonant. Included in the lists in this section are some extremely common adjectives that you must learn. Since colors are description words, they are adjectives and some have been included in the following lists according to their endings. Remember that the article in front of the noun will indicate the gender of the noun and the adjectives that follow the noun will match that gender.
Some useful adjectives that end in -
o:
|
alto
|
tall
|
|
amarillo
|
yellow
|
|
anaranjado
|
orange
|
|
barato
|
cheap
|
|
blanco
|
white
|
|
bonito
|
pretty
|
|
caro
|
expensive
|
|
cómico
|
funny
|
|
cómodo
|
comfortable
|
|
corto
|
short
|
|
divertido
|
amusing
|
|
delgado
|
thin
|
|
delicioso
|
delicious
|
|
duro
|
hard
|
|
extranjero
|
foreign
|
|
feo
|
ugly
|
|
generoso
|
generous
|
|
gordo
|
fat
|
|
guapo
|
attractive (handsome)
|
|
hermoso
|
beautiful
|
|
largo
|
long
|
|
limpio
|
clean
|
|
loco
|
crazy
|
|
negro
|
black
|
|
pardo
|
brown
|
|
rico
|
rich
|
|
rojo
|
red
|
|
sucio
|
dirty
|
|
If an adjective ends in -
o in its singular masculine form, the final -
o will change to -
a when the adjective is used to describe a feminine noun. The definite article is included here to remind you of the gender of the noun, so you can review the gender rules as you read these examples. In order to use an adjective correctly, you will have to know the gender of the noun it modifies.
|
el chico guapo
|
the attractive boy
|
|
la chica guapa
|
the attractive girl
|
|
el coche blanco
|
the white car
|
|
la montaña blanca
|
the white mountain
|
|
el libro divertido
|
the amusing book
|
|
la situación divertida
|
the amusing situation
|
|
Some commonly used adjectives that end in -
e:
|
agradable
|
pleasant
|
|
alegre
|
happy
|
|
elegante
|
elegant
|
|
enorme
|
enormous
|
|
excelente
|
excellent
|
|
fuerte
|
strong
|
|
importante
|
important
|
|
impresionante
|
impressive
|
|
independiente
|
independent
|
|
inteligente
|
intelligent
|
|
interesante
|
interesting
|
|
pobre
|
poor
|
|
responsable
|
responsible
|
|
simple
|
simple
|
|
triste
|
sad
|
|
verde
|
green
|
|
Adjectives that end in -
e do not change endings for feminine nouns. In their singular forms they are used exactly the same to modify both masculine and feminine nouns. Consider the following examples:
|
el abuelo inteligente
|
the intelligent grandfather
|
|
la abuela inteligente
|
the intelligent grandmother
|
|
el parque enorme
|
the enormous park
|
|
la ciudad enorme
|
the enormous city
|
|
la muchedumbre triste
|
the sad crowd
|
|
la muchedumbre interesante
|
the interesting crowd
|
|
A few adjectives end in consonants. For example:
|
azul
|
blue
|
|
difícil
|
difficult
|
|
fácil
|
easy
|
|
gris
|
gray
|
|
feliz
|
happy
|
|
popular
|
popular
|
|
Adjectives that end in a consonant will not change endings to indicate gender except for adjectives indicating nationality.
|
el hermano popular
|
the popular brother
|
|
la hermana popular
|
the popular sister
|
|
el problema difícil
|
the difficult problem
|
|
la situación difícil
|
the difficult situation
|
|
el mapa azul
|
the blue map
|
|
la pluma azul
|
the blue pen
|
|
The adjectives of nationality that end in a consonant are special and follow their own rules. Unlike other adjectives ending in a consonant, you actually add the letter -
a after the consonant at the end of an adjective of nationality to use it with a feminine noun.
|
el señor español
|
the Spanish gentleman
|
|
la señora española
|
the Spanish lady
|
|
In the following examples, note that adding a syllable to the end of a word usually changes where the stress of the word will naturally fall. If an adjective of nationality has an accent mark on the last syllable, it will disappear when you add -
a to the end. This occurs quite often with adjectives of nationality.
|
el negociante inglés
|
the English businessman
|
|
la actriz inglesa
|
the English actress
|
|
el cine japonés
|
the Japanese cinema
|
|
la ciudad japonesa
|
the Japanese city
|
|
el libro francés
|
the French book
|
|
la novela francesa
|
the French novel
|
|
Some adjectives that indicate nationality end in -
o and are used like any other adjectives. Simply change the -
o ending to -
a if the adjective is describing a feminine noun. You will notice in all the following examples that Spanish does not require the capitalization of adjectives of nationality but English does.
|
el hombre colombiano
|
the Colombian man
|
|
la mujer colombiana
|
the Colombian woman
|
|
el muchacho mexicano
|
the Mexican boy
|
|
la muchacha mexicana
|
the Mexican girl
|
|
Adjectives of nationality that end in -
e are also like other adjectives. The same form is used for both genders.
|
el padre nicaragüense
|
the Nicaraguan father
|
|
la madre nicaragüense
|
the Nicaraguan mother
|
|
el amigo canadiense
|
the Canadian friend (male)
|
|
la amiga canadiense
|
the Canadian friend (female)
|
|
Adjectives and number
You may have noticed that all of the examples so far have been singular nouns. Once you understand the rules for creating the different gender forms of adjectives, you are ready to tackle plurals. An adjective will actually become plural if the noun it modifies is plural. In English, when a noun becomes plural, the definite article and adjectives do not change. “The red pen” becomes “The red pens.” Only the noun “pens” is pluralized.
In the Spanish equivalent, when the noun “pens” becomes plural, so does the article “the” and the noun “red.” The definite article
el becomes
los and
la becomes
las when the noun is plural, and the adjective that follows the noun will be in its plural form also.
|
La
s pluma
s roja
s
|
the red pen
s
|
|
The plural forms of adjectives are created the same way as the plural forms of nouns. If a word ends in any vowel, add -
s to make it plural.
|
los muchachos mexicanos
|
the Mexican boys
|
|
las muchachas mexicanas
|
the Mexican girls
|
|
los coches blancos
|
the white cars
|
|
las montañas blancas
|
the white mountains
|
|
If a word ends in any consonant, add -
es to make it plural.
|
los problemas difíciles
|
the difficult problems
|
|
las situaciones difíciles
|
the difficult situations
|
|
los hermanos populares
|
the popular brothers
|
|
las hermanas populares
|
the popular sisters
|
|
When you create the plural form of an adjective that ends in -
z, don't forget the rule that “
z changes to
c when followed by
e.”
|
la solución eficaz
|
the effective solution
|
|
las soluciones eficaces
|
the effective solutions
|
|
el hombre sagaz
|
the wise man
|
|
los hombres sagaces
|
the wise men
|
|
Adjective placement
Generally, an adjective is placed after the noun it modifies in a Spanish sentence, as shown in the examples in the preceding section. However, there are a few simple rules to learn about the types of adjectives that must be placed in front of a noun.
Adjectives of quantity are placed in front of the noun they quantify. This includes all numbers and any adjectives that indicate amount. The following are some common adjectives of quantity:
|
mucho, mucha
|
much
|
|
muchos, muchas
|
many
|
|
poco, poca
|
little, few
|
|
bastante
|
enough (does not change forms)
|
|
suficiente
|
enough (does not change forms)
|
|
alguno, alguna, algunos, algunas
|
some
|
|
The word
apocope means “cut short.” Some adjectives are called
apocopated because their ending will be cut short in specific circumstances.
The apocopated adjectives listed below are usually placed in front of a noun, and if that noun is singular and masculine, you should drop the final -
o of the adjective.
|
bueno
|
good
|
|
la buena chica
|
the good girl
|
|
el buen chico
|
the good boy
|
|
malo
|
bad
|
|
la mala situación
|
the bad situation
|
|
el mal problema
|
the bad problem (don't forget
problema is masculine)
|
|
primero
|
first
|
|
la primera hija
|
the first daughter
|
|
el primer hijo
|
the first son
|
|
tercero
|
third
|
|
la tercera clase
|
the third class
|
|
el tercer ejemplo
|
the third example
|
|
uno
|
one
|
|
una pluma
|
one pen (a pen)
|
|
un libro
|
one book (a book)
|
|
alguno
|
some
|
|
alguna libertad
|
some freedom
|
|
algún dinero
|
some money (notice the shortened form has an accent mark because of the pronunciation rules)
|
|
While the adjectives in the previous list will only drop the -
o in front of a singular masculine noun, there is one adjective that is cut short in front of any singular noun.
The adjective
grande (great, large) can be used in front of a noun or after it. It's unique because
grande becomes
gran when placed before any singular noun, regardless of gender. The full form of
grande is used when placed after the noun. The meaning of the adjective changes to “large.”
|
el gran piano
|
the great piano
|
|
la gran oportunidad
|
the great opportunity
|
|
el piano grande
|
the large piano
|
|
la ciudad grande
|
the large city
|
|
In a sentence with a linking verb like
ser or
estar, an adjective can be used after the verb to describe a noun before the verb. In these sentences, the adjective will not be shortened even if the noun is singular and masculine because the adjective is not in front of the noun.
|
Juana está de tercera.
|
Juana is third.
|
|
Julio está de primero.
|
Julio is first.
|
|
Marco es malo.
|
Mark is bad.
|
|
Alicia es buena.
|
Alicia is good.
|
|
Although you won't learn about adverbs here, you will eventually notice that when an adverb such as
bien, más, or
muy precedes an adjective both words will usually follow the noun.
|
el chico más guapo
|
the most handsome boy
|
|
la chica muy bonita
|
the very pretty girl
|
|
Adjectives that change meaning
If you place the adjective incorrectly in a sentence, most of the time you will not alter the meaning of the sentence. You may sound a little silly to a native speaker, but you will be able to express what you mean to say. However, there are a few adjectives that change meaning depending on where they're placed in the sentence. Imagine telling your teacher that she's large when you meant to say she's great—just because you put the adjective in the wrong place! Learn the following list with the examples provided because the order of the words is what determines the meaning of the adjective.
|
el antiguo maestro
|
the former teacher
|
|
el abuelo antiguo
|
the old-fashioned grandfather
|
|
el pobre hombre
|
the poor man (unfortunate)
|
|
el hombre pobre
|
the poor man (impoverished)
|
|
el gran presidente
|
the great president
|
|
el presidente grande
|
the large president
|
|
diferentes libros
|
various books
|
|
libros diferentes
|
different books
|
|
el nuevo coche
|
the new car (new to you)
|
|
el coche nuevo
|
the brand new car
|
|
Thematic Vocabulary
Adjectives
