Adjectives

Spanish Adjectives

Definition

• An adjective is a word that describes a noun (e.g., “good”, “nice”, “beautiful”).
• They provide additional information or specify qualities about the nouns they describe.

Gender and Number Agreement

• In Spanish, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
• Generally, adjectives that end with ‘-o’ are masculine, and those that end with ‘-a’ are feminine. For example, “libro viejo” (old book) and “casa vieja” (old house).
• To make an adjective plural, add ‘-s’ when the adjective ends in a vowel, and ‘-es’ when it ends in a consonant.

Position of Adjectives

• Unlike English, Spanish usually places the adjective after the noun it modifies (e.g., “coche rojo” translates to “car red” which is “red car” in English).
• There are however a few exceptions when the adjective can be placed before the noun, often to emphasize the description.

Comparison Forms

• Comparatives are formed by putting ‘más’ (more) or ‘menos’ (less) before the adjective (e.g., “más barato/bonito” = cheaper/more beautiful, “menos barato/bonito” = less cheap/beautiful).
• To create superlatives, the article ‘el’, ‘la’, ‘los’ or ‘las’ is used before ‘más’ or ‘menos’ and noun (e.g., “el hombre más alto” = the tallest man).

Types of Spanish Adjectives

• Apart from regular adjectives, there are demonstrative adjectives (“this”, “that”, “these”, “those”), possessive adjectives (“my”, “your”, “his”, “her”, “our”, “their”), interrogative adjectives (“what”, “which”), indeterminate adjectives (“some”, “any”), etc. Each has its own rules of use.

Keep in mind that understanding and usage of adjectives helps in enriching Spanish vocabulary and lends a more natural flow to conversations and written expressions. Keep practising and revising!