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Adjectives
- Overview
- Gender and number
- Shortening of adjectives
- Numbers
- Past participles as adjectives
- Possessive adjectives
- Demonstrative adjectives
- Placement of adjectives
- Comparisons of adjectives
- Superlative degree of comparison
The adjective in Spanish is much like the adjective in English in that in both languages they modify a noun or a pronoun. In Spanish they often follow the word they modify, and whenever possible they reflect the gender and number of that word.
Gender and number of adjectives
Most adjectives have endings that reflect the number and gender of the word they modify. That is whenever possible the adjective will adopt either a masculine or feminine ending (either -o or -a) or a singular or plural ending (either -o/-a or -os/-as). Notice how the adjectives guapo and hermoso change according to the word they modify:
un hombre guapo --> una mujer hermosados hombres guapos --> dos mujeres hermosas
A second kind of adjective does not have masculine endings in -o. Instead, the masculine singular forms end in -ón, -án, -ín or -dor. They form the feminine form by adding -a and the plural forms by adding either -es (masc.) or -as (fem.). Adjectives of nationality that end in a consonant such as -s or -n also form their feminine form by adding -a.
Masc. sing./ Masc. plural / Fem. sing. / Fem. plural :
- comilón / comilones / comilona / comilonas
- chafallón / chafallones / chafallona / chafallonas
- galán / galanes / galana / galanas /
- borrachín / borrachines / borrachina / borrachinas
- hablador / habladores / habladora / habladoras
- acusador / acusadores / acusadora / acusadoras
- portugués (nat.) / portugueses (nat.) / portuguesa (nat.) / portuguesas (nat.)
- alemán (nat.) / alemanes (nat.) / alemana (nat.) / alemanas (nat.)
Finally, there is a third kind of adjective that does not reflect either the masculine or feminine ending. Their plural forms simply add -s or -es to the singular.
Masculine / Feminine
- un período breve --> una estación breve
- un hombre cortés --> una mujer cortés
- el día peor --> la película peor
- un señor gentil --> una señora gentil
- un amigo fiel --> una amiga fiel
- un colega amable --> una colega amable
When certain common adjectives such as grande, bueno, and malo precede a masculine singular noun, they shorten to gran, buen, and mal, respectively.* Also, when the number ciento precedes any noun it loses the last two letters and becomes cien.
- edificio grande --> gran edificio
- año bueno --> buen año
- evento malo --> mal evento
- ciento --> cien meses
*See Placement of adjectives for information on how the meaning of adjectives changes with regard to their position relative to the noun.
Click on "Numbers"
Past participles as adjectives
Common past participles in English are: read, constructed, spoken, etc. They often end in the letters -d, -ed or -en. English abounds in irregular forms: built, gone, brought, etc.
As is the case with English, Spanish also uses the past participle as an adjective. The formation of the past participle in Spanish, both regular and irregular, is described in the past participles section.
In addition to their verbal uses, past participles are often used
as adjectives and, as most adjectives, agree with in number and
gender with the words they modify.
- El niño está cansado. (The child is weary.)
- La tarea está acabada. (The work is finished.)
- Los coches usados son mi pasión. (Used cars are my passion.)
- Las ventanas abiertas dejaron entrar el viento. (The open windows allowed the wind to enter.)
Click on "Possessive adjectives"
See also possessive pronouns.
Click on "Demonstrative adjectives"
See also demonstrative pronouns.
Placement of adjectives
A frequent source of confusion arises from the placement of adjectives with reference to the noun or pronoun they modify. Unlike English, one often finds that in Spanish the adjective follows the noun it modifies. In fact, however, many adjectives are placed either before or after the word they modify. Sometimes the nature of the adjective prescribes its placement, and sometimes the placement is dependent on a subjective meaning.
1. Descriptive adjectives. Adjectives that distinguish one
noun from another follow the noun. This position is almost always
appropriate for adjectives relating to religion, belief, nationality
and color.
- Es una catedral católica. (It is a Catholic cathedral.)
- Alejandro es un senador marxista. (Alejandro is a Marxist senator.)
- El estado mexicano de Michoacán es hermoso. (The Mexican state of Michoacán is beautiful.)
- Es una bandera roja. (It is a red flag.)
If two or more adjectives modify a noun, the last two are linked
by y, and they all follow the noun.
- He leído recientemente un libro largo, interesante y útil. (I've recently read a long, interesting, and useful book.)
If an adverb like muy or poco modifies an adjective,
the modifiers will follow the noun.
- Vivimos en tiempos muy difíciles. (We live in very difficult times.)
- Ellos han contestado con una respuesta poco apropiada. (They have responded with an inappropriate answer.)
On the other hand, descriptive adjectives that express an assumed
quality or connote subjectivity often precede the noun. Contrast the
following pairs:
- Me gusta mirar los altos pirineos. (The Pyrenees are assumed to be high.)
- Me dan miedo los edificios altos. (The low
buildings, by extension, create no fear.)
- Estoy leyendo las hermosas odas de Neruda. (The odes are subjectively beautiful.)
- Prefiero los paisajes hermosos. (These landscapes stand in contrast to those less beautiful.)
Certain adjectives, such as grande, nuevo, pobre, viejo,
and mismo, take on distinctively different meanings
depending on their placement. In post-position the adjective takes on
a much more objective meaning. Conversely, in pre-position the
adjective takes on a much more subjective meaning.
- Es un gran hombre. (He's a great man.)
- Es un hombre grande. (He's a large man.)
- Compré una casa nueva. (The house was recently constructed.)
- Compré una nueva casa. (The house may be
old, but it was newly purchased.)
- Es un pobre muchacho. (He's an unfortunate child.)
- Es un muchacho pobre. (He's a boy who has no
money.)
- Es mi vieja amiga. (She's my friend from way back.)
- Es mi amiga vieja. (She's my aged friend.)
- Es el mismo presidente. (It's the same president.)
- Es el presidente mismo. (It's the president himself.)
2. Quantitative adjectives. Numbers either precede or follow the noun, depending on their use.
Cardinal numbers (uno, dos, tres) usually precede the
noun.
- Tengo dos hermanos. (I have two brothers.)
- Necesitamos mil dólares. (We need a thousand dollars.)
Ordinal numbers [primer(o), segundo, tercer(o)]
usually precede the noun. When ordinal numbers refer to titles and
chapters, however, they will usually follow the word modified.
- Para mañana estudien la cuarta lección. (Study the fourth lesson for tomorrow.)
- Te lo repito por la décima vez. (I'll
tell you for the tenth time.)
But:
- Felipe Segundo fue un rey español. (Phillip the Second was a Spanish king.)
- Lean el capítulo cuarto para la semana que
viene. (Read chapter four for next week.)
Click on "Comparisons of adjectives"
Superlative degree of comparison
Click on "Superlative degree of comparison"
Related topic:
Comparisons of adjectives, adverbs, and
nouns
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