Spelling and Pronunciation
Adjectives
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 it to describe. Then you must choose the correct form of the adjective and place it either in front of or behind that noun based on the rules.
Adjectives and gender
It's important to know that adjectives in dictionaries and vocabulary lists are always presented in their singular masculine form. In this form, most adjectives end in – o, but a few end in – e or a consonant. This section provides some extremely common adjectives you need to learn in order to understand the examples. 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 are:
|
alto |
tall |
|
amarillo |
yellow |
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anaranjado |
orange |
|
barato |
cheap |
|
blanco |
white |
|
bonito |
pretty |
|
caro |
expensive |
|
cómico |
funny |
|
cómodo |
comfortable |
|
corto |
short (in length) |
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delgado |
thin |
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delicioso |
delicious |
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divertido |
amusing |
|
duro |
hard |
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extranjero |
foreign |
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feo |
ugly |
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generoso |
generous |
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gordo |
fat |
|
guapo |
attractive (handsome) |
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hermoso |
beautiful |
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largo |
long |
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limpio |
clean |
|
loco |
crazy |
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negro |
black |
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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. If the noun is plural, the adjective must also be plural, in which case the adjective will end in –os or –as. 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. To use an adjective correctly, you 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 are:
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agradable |
pleasant |
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alegre |
happy |
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elegante |
elegant |
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enorme |
enormous |
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excelente |
excellent |
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fuerte |
strong |
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importante |
important |
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impresionante |
impressive |
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independiente |
independent |
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inteligente |
intelligent |
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interesante |
interesting |
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pobre |
poor |
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responsable |
responsible |
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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 |
|
el pueblo interesante |
the interesting town |
|
la muchedumbre interesante |
the interesting crowd |
A few adjectives end in consonants. For example:
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azul |
blue |
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difícil |
difficult |
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fácil |
easy |
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gris |
gray |
|
feliz |
happy |
|
popular |
popular |
Adjectives that end in a consonant usually will not change endings to indicate gender except for those 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 |
|
el boligrafo azul |
the blue pen |
The adjectives of nationality that end in a consonant are special and will often change depending on the gender of the person to whom they refer. 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. It is also possible that other descriptive adjectives ending in a consonant will also change in the feminine form.
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el señor español |
the Spanish gentleman |
|
la señora española |
the Spanish lady |
|
un chico juguetón |
a playful guy |
|
una chica juguetona |
a playful girl |
In the following examples, note that adding a syllable to the end of a word usually changes where the stress of the word will 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.
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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. 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 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 pen s.” Only the noun “pen s” is pluralized.
In the Spanish equivalent, when the noun “pens” becomes plural, so do the article “the” and the adjective “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 camisa s roja s the red shirt s
The plural forms of adjectives are created the same way as the plural forms of nouns. If an adjective 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 an adjective 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 of quality (which includes most adjectives) 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, a lot |
|
muchos, muchas |
many, a lot |
|
poco, poca |
little, few |
|
bastante |
enough (does not change forms) |
|
suficiente |
enough (does not change forms) |
|
alguno, alguna, algunos, algunas |
some |
|
varios, varias |
several |
The word “apocope” means “cut short.” Some adjectives are called apocopated because their endings are 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, only then should you drop the final – o of the adjective.
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bueno |
good |
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la buena chica |
the good girl |
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el buen chico |
the good boy |
|
malo |
bad |
|
la mala situación |
the bad situation |
|
el mal problema |
the bad problem (remember that problema is masculine) |
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primero |
first |
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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 that the shortened form has an accent mark because of the pronunciation rules) |
|
ninguno |
none, not any, no (to negate a noun) |
|
ninguna cámara |
no camera |
|
ningún tiempo |
no time |
While those adjectives drop the – o only 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 both 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 may change to “large” according to the context.
|
el gran héroe |
the great hero |
|
la gran oportunidad |
the great opportunity |
|
el gran canal |
the large canal |
|
el piano grande |
the large piano |
|
la ciudad grande |
the large city |
In these sentences, the adjective is not shortened even if the noun is singular and masculine because the adjective is not in front of the noun.
|
Juana es la tercera. |
Juana is third. |
|
Julio es el primero. |
Julio is first. |
|
Marco es malo. |
Mark is bad. |
|
Alicia es buena. |
Alicia is good. |
One other circumstance that affects the placement of an adjective is when it is modified by an adverb. 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 still express what you mean to say. However, a few adjectives 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! Here is the complete list so you won't make mistakes like this in your own conversations.
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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 salón |
the great ballroom |
|
el salon grande |
the large ballroom |
|
diferentes libros |
various books |
|
libros diferentes |
different books |
|
el nuevo coche |
the new car (new to you) |
|
el coche nuevo |
the brand new car |
