Index Pre-Reading Los Adjetivos Amnesia Barbadulce Cuarto de Luna Tremenduskah Príncipes React to Text


Los Adjetivos


An adjective (adjetivo) in Spanish or in English is a word used to describe a noun (like size, color, shape...). 
If you already have an idea about adjectives you can scroll down to the Summary to refresh your memory or review the list of adjectives,
otherwise you can start with us from here:




Basic Rules:
An adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies.
Similar to nouns, an adjective usually ends in (~o) for masculine (plural ~os), and (~a) for feminine (plural ~as):

 

Spanish Adjectives

 

singular

plural

singular

plural

masculine

blanco

blancos

alto

altos

feminine

blanca

blancas

alta

altas


 For Example:
-Un hombre alto (a tall man) 
-Unos hombres altos (tall men)
-Muchos libros (many books)


-Una casa pequeña (a small house)
-Unas chicas peligrosas (some dangerous girls)
-
Muchas cosas (many things)

Some Irregularities:
There are also some adjectives whose masculine singular end in a consonant and form the feminine by adding -a:

-Un amigo frances (a French friend - male-)
-Una amiga francesa (a French friend -female-)


Some other adjectives ending in a consonant take the same form for both masculine and feminine:
-un chico joven (a young boy)
-una chica joven (a young girl)
-unos cantantes populares (some popular singers)
-unas canciones populares (some popular songs)

Usually descriptive adjectives follow the nouns they modify:

-una ciudad limpia (a clean city).

Adjectives can be used as nouns, in that case they take a definite article:

-Los pobres tienen muchos problemas. (Poor people have many problems.)

Adjectives are occasionally used adverbially:

-Jose vive feliz en su granja. (Jose lives happily in his farm.)


Spanish vs. English Adjectives:

The tricky part is that Spanish adjectives are different from English adjectives.

In English, adjectives are found before the noun they modify, while in Spanish usually they're found after the noun they modify.
They are also different because, in Spanish, the adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

 

When they precede the noun, such adjectives change meaning, acquiring a less literal sense:

-El mendigo es un hombre pobre. (A beggar is a poor man.)
-El pobre hombre tiene muchos problemas (The poor guy has many problems)
See how the position can define the meaning intended in the sentence.
The first “pobre” means someone who doesn’t have money, but the second “pobre” means someone who deserves pity, and it has nothing to do with money.


In most cases adjectives precede the nouns they modify whenever they:

- Express an essential quality:
la dulce miel (the sweet honey)
las verdes hojas (the green leaves)
- Point out, limit or quantify:
este perro (this dog)
su hija (his/ her daughter)
menos caliente (less hot)
tres manzanas (three apples)



Basic Rules:
So in short, these are some rules to follow about the Spanish adjectives:

Most Spanish adjectives end in (-o), and in order to make them feminine, change the o to an (-a), to make them plural, add -os (plural masculine); or -as (plural feminine).
When the adjective ends in (-a) or (-e), no difference will be made between the masculine and feminine form, and the plural is created by adding (s).
- pobre (for both genders in singular)
- pobres (for both genders in plural)
- egoísta (for both genders in singular)
- egoístas (for both genders in plural)

When an adjective ends in any consonant except r, or z, there will be no difference between the masculine and feminine forms, and the plural can be created by adding -es.
- débil (for both genders in singular
- débiles (for both genders in plural).

When an adjective ends with z, no difference will be made to both genders in singular, but in the plural we have to switch z to c and then add the usual -es.
- feliz (for both genders in singular)
- felices (for both genders in plural)

When an adjective ends in r, the feminine is formed by adding an (-a), the masculine plural by adding -es and the feminine plural by adding -as.
- encantador (masc singular)
- encantadora (fem singular)
- encantadores (masc plural) 
- encantadoras (fem plural)
 

Summary of Spanish Adjectives:

This is basically what you need to remember about adjectives and the four forms they take:

Most Spanish adjectives end in o.
To make them feminine, change the o to an a.
To make them plural, add -os (plural masculine) or -as (plural feminine).
 

Spanish Adjectives

 

singular

plural

singular

plural

masculine

blanco

blancos

alto

altos

feminine

blanca

blancas

alta

altas

 


This is a list of some adjectives that you might find useful: 

List of Adjectives in Spanish

ambitious

ambicioso

American

americano / americana

annoying

pesado

argumentative

discutidor

bad

malo / mala

bad-tempered

malhumorado

beautiful

hermoso / hermosa

big, large

grande

blonde

rubio / rubia

boring

aburrido

brave

valiente

brunette, tanned skin

moreno / morena

carefree

despreocupado

careless

 descuidado, poco cuidadoso

cautious

prudente, cauteloso, cauto;

certain

cierto

charming

encantador

cheerful

alegre, jovial

Chinese

chino / china

comical, funny

cómico

conceited

presumido

conservative

conservador

conventional

convencional

coward

cobarde

crazy, nuts

loco, chiflado

cruel

cruel

difficult, hard

difícil

disagreeable

antipático

dull, boring

soso, aburrido

easy

fácil

English

inglés / inglésa

fat

gordo / gorda

fearsome

temible

French

francés / francésa

frequent

frecuente

friendly

amigable, agradable

fun, amusing

divertido

general

general

generous

generoso

German

alemán / alemána

good

bueno / buena

handsome

guapo / guapa

hard-working

trabajador

high, tall

alto / alta

honest

honesto

intelligent

inteligente

interesting

interesante

kind

amable

laid-back

tranquilo, relajado

lazy

perezoso, vago

little, small

pequeño / pequeña

low, short

bajo / baja

loyal

fiel

mean

tacaño

modest

modesto

moody

de humor cambiante

naive

ingenuo, inocentón

narrow-minded

de mentalidad cerrada, intolerante

new

nuevo / nueva

nice (person)

simpático / simpática

old

viejo / vieja

open-minded

de actitud abierta, sin prejuicios

perfect

perfecto

personal

 personal

pious

piadoso

polite

cortés, educado

poor

pobre

possible

posible

pretty

bonito/ bonita

professional

profesional

proud

orgulloso

rapid, fast

rápido

realistic

 realista

recent

reciente

reliable

fiable, confiable

rich

rico / rica

sad

triste

self-confident

seguro de sí mismo

selfish

egoísta

sensitive

sensible

shy - introverted

tímido, vergonzoso - introvertido

silly, dumb

tonto / tonta

skinny

flaco / flaca

slender, slim

delgado / delgada

slow

lento

small

chiquita

Spanish

 español / española

strict

estricto, severo, riguroso

strong

fuerte

stubborn

terco, testarudo, tozudo

sympathetic (understanding)

comprensivo

talkative

conversador, hablador

trustworthy

digno de confianza

two-faced, fake

falso

ugly

feo / fea

various

diverso

weak

débil

weird

raro, extraño

white

blanco

young

joven




Index Pre-Reading Los Adjetivos Amnesia Barbadulce Cuarto de Luna Tremenduskah Príncipes React to Text