Tengo algunas ideas. Contents Previous Next

5. Adjectives

Adjetivos

Agreement of Adjectives

El hombre es alto. The man is tall.
La mujer es alta. The woman is tall.
Los hombres son altos. The men are tall.
Las mujeres son altas. The women are tall.
El hombre y la mujer son altos. The man and the woman are tall.
  1. An adjective that ends in -o in the masculine singular has four possible forms: depending on whether the noun or pronoun it describes is mascu line or feminine, singular or plural.
  2. An adjective agrees in form with the noun or pronoun it describes. Thus:
    1. Singular: If the noun or pronoun is masculine, the adjective ends in -o; if it is feminine, the adjective ends in -a.
    2. Plural: If the noun or pronoun is maculine, the adjective ends in -os; if it is feminine, the adjective ends in -as. If the same adjective describes two or more nouns of different genders, the masculine plural form is used.
  3. An adjective that does not end in -o in the masculine singular generallyhas only two forms: singular and plural. The masculine and feminine forms are the same.

    4. Adjectives of Nationality
    El chico es español. The boy is Spanish.
    La chica es española. The girl is Spanish.
    Los chicos son españoles. The boys are Spanish.
    Las chicas son españolas. The girls are Spanish.
  4. Adjectives of nationality that end in a consonant in the masculine singular add -a for the feminine singular,  -es for the masculine plural, and -as for the feminine plural.
  5. If the masculine singular form has an accent mark on the last vowel, the accent mark disappears in the other forms:

    6. francés, francesa, franceses, francesas

    Adjectives That Follow the Noun

    Juanito es un niño inteligente. Johnny is an intelligent child.
    Raquel es una niña simpática. Rachel is a nice (likeable) child.
    Los alumnos aplicados estudian mucho. The studious pupils study a lot.
    Los platos italianos son deliciosos. The Italian dishes are delicious.
  6. In Spanish, an adjective of description or nationality generally follows its noun, whereas it generally precedes its noun in English:

    7. an interesting lesson = una lección interesante

    Adjectives That Generally Precede the Noun

    Tengo muchos libros.  I have many books.
    Ana tiene poco dinero. Ann has little money.
    Hay varias personas en casa. There are several people at home.
  7. Adjectives of quantity, number and amount generally precede their nouns in Spanish, as in English.

    8. Adjectives That Precede the Noun

    uno: Tengo un libro, una pluma, unos papeles y unas flores.
       I have a book, a pen, some papers, and some flowers.
    alguno: Algún hombre viene mañana.
     Some man is coming tomorrow.
    Algunos hombres vienen mañana.
     Some men are coming tomorrow.
    Tengo alguna idea de eso.
     I have some idea of that.
    Tengo algunas ideas.
      I have some ideas.
    ninguno: Ningún alumno sabe la respuesta.
     No pupil knows the answer.
    Ninguna profesora está aqui.
      No teacher is here.
  8. The forms of uno, alguno and ninguno generally precede the noun.
  9. Before a masculine singular noun, uno, alguno and ninguno drop the final -o.
  10. Ningún and ninguna have the plural forms ningunos and ningunas, but these plurals are not required in any of the exercises of this book.
  11. Some in the plural may be expressed in Spanish by either unos, unas, oralgunos, algunas.

    12. Adjectives That May Precede or Follow the Noun

    bueno, good

    Robert is a good boy:
            Roberto es un buen chico.
            Roberto es un chico bueno.
    They are good pupils:
           Ellos sonbuenos alumnos.
           Ellos son alumnos buenos.
    Ann is a good daughter:
           Ana es una buena hija.
           Ana es una hija buena.
    They are good daughters:
          Ellas son buenas hijas.
          Ellas son hijas buenas.
  12. The forms of bueno may either precede or follow the noun.
  13. Before a masculine singular noun, bueno drops the final -o.

    14. Other Adjectives Like bueno
    malo, bad un mal hijo or un hijo malo
    primero, first el primer hombre or el hombre primero
    tercero, third el tercer libro or el libro tercerogrande and gran
    Wáshington fue un gran hombre. Washington was a great man.
    La reina Isabel fue una gran mujer. Queen Isabel was a great woman.
    Los dos fueron grandes personas. Both were great people.

    but:
    Una ciudad grande tiene escuelas. grandes. A large city has large schools.
  14. Gran before a singular noun, masculine or feminine, means great.
  15. The plural of gran is grandes.

  16. Grande and grandes used after a noun mean large or big.

Recommended Reading:  For those of you interested in sound grounding in grammar and vocabulary, here are two texts:

Jackson, Eugene, and Antonio Rubio. Spanish Made Simple. New York: Doubleday, 1984.

Wasserman, Marvin, and Carol Wasserman. Curso primero. New York: Amsco School Publications, Inc. 1979.