Adjective Position
Spanish adjectives may be found before or after the nouns they modify, depending on various factors. Generally speaking, descriptive adjectives follow nouns, while limiting adjectives precede nouns.
Adjectives
Adjectives
An adjective is a word that describes a noun: its shape, color size, etc. Spanish adjectives are very different from English adjectives, for two reasons.
Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of manner express how the action of a verb occurs. In English, the vast majority of adverbs of manner end in -ly, whereas in Spanish, they mostly end in –mente.
Augmentatives
In Spanish, suffixes called augmentatives can be added to nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and names to indicate bigness, as well as other ideas such as excessiveness, contempt, or disdain. In this way, you can say that something is big without adding an adjective like grande to indicate bigness or repugnante to indicate contempt.
¡Qué! Exclamative Adjective
In Spanish, many exclamations are formed with ¡qué! Although these constructions might seem very simple, there are actually some strict rules about the grammar used in them.
Cuyo – Relative Adjective
Cuyo is a relative adjective that means “whose,” “of whom,” or “of which.” It indicates the noun which is the object of the clause that follows it.
Demonstrative Adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those) are words which indicate a specific noun. Spanish demonstrative adjectives are more complicated than their English counterparts, because there are three different sets.
Demonstrative Adjectives Quiz
Test yourself on Spanish demonstrative adjectives with this fill-in-the-blanks exercise:
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Diminutives
In Spanish, suffixes called diminutives can be added to nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and names to indicate smallness, as well as other ideas such as affection, humor, pity, irony, or ridicule. In this way, you can say that something is little without adding an adjective like pequeño to indicate smallness or querido to indicate affection.
Fractions
In both Spanish and English, there’s a lot of overlap between fractions and ordinals: the vast majority of these two types of numbers share the same word. In English, they are identical from “third” on up, while in Spanish they’re the same starting with cuarto.
