Adjectives

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Adjetivos

One of the eight parts of speech, adjectives are a type of modifier; that is, they modify or describe nouns in a certain way, letting you know the size, shape, weight, color, nationality, or any of a myriad other possible qualities of nouns.

Adjectives serve the same purpose in Spanish and English, but they are very different in other respects.

Characteristics of Spanish Adjectives

1. Modify nouns
2. Must agree in gender and number with nouns
3. Usually follow nouns
4. May be modified by adverbs

Gender and Number of Spanish Adjectives

English adjectives have a single form, but Spanish adjectives can have up to 4 forms, according to the gender and number of the nouns they modify:

masculine singular		masculine plural
feminine singular		feminine plural

If you’ve already studied the noun lesson, some of these rules will look familiar.

1) Masculine singular is the default form and usually ends in -o. This changes to -a for feminine singular. For plural, add -s.

Por ejemplo…

rojo (red)

rojo		rojos
roja		rojas

2) When the masculine adjective ends in -a or -e, there is no difference between the masculine and feminine forms. The plural is still created by adding -s.

realista (realistic)

realista		realistas
realista		realistas

triste (sad)

triste		tristes
triste		tristes

3) When the adjective ends in any consonant except -n, -r, or -z, there is no difference between the masculine and feminine forms, and the plural is created by adding -es.

fácil (easy)

fácil		fáciles
fácil		fáciles

4) When the adjective ends in z, there is no difference between the masculine and feminine forms, and the plural is created by changing the z to a c and adding -es. (Why?)

feliz (happy)

feliz		felices
feliz		felices

5) For adjectives that end in -n or -r,* the feminine is created by adding -a, the masculine plural by adding -es and the feminine plural by adding -as.

hablador (talkative)

hablador		habladores
habladora		habladoras

* Except for peor and mejor, which follow rule 3, above.

 Related lessons

• Position of adjectives
• PwLS super list of adjective lessons
• Parts of speech
   

 Spanish lesson plans

• Adjectives (PPT, 6th-12th grade)
• Adjective Agreement (Worksheet, 6th-8th grade)
• Descriptive Adjectives (Worksheet, 9th-10th grade)
• Practice with Adjectives (Worksheet, 6th-9th grade)
• Review of Adjectives (Lesson plan, 6th-8th grade)
   

 En français

• Adjectifs
   

 In italiano

• Aggettivi
   

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