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Adjectives in Spanish
In Spanish, they almost always follow the noun they define and agree with it in gender and number. The plural of adjectives is formed according to the same rules as nouns: if the word ends in a vowel, add -s-, and if it ends in a consonant, add -es-. For example:
un pájaro blanco- white bird, pájaros blancos- white birds;una casa blanca- white house, casas blancas- white houses;
una joven hermosa- beautiful girl, jovenes hermosas- beautiful girls;
un joven hermoso- a handsome young man, jovenes hermosos- handsome young men;
una casa grande- big house, casas grandes- big houses;
un restorán grande- a large restaurant, restoranes grandes- large restaurants;
By gender they are divided into:
- masculine adjectives (ending -O-), for example
blanco- white
fino- graceful
hermoso- Beautiful
- feminine adjectives (ending -A-), for example
blanca- white
fina- graceful
hermosa- beautiful
(Thus, an adjective receives a masculine ending -o- when paired with a masculine noun, for example: un restorán hermoso - a beautiful restaurant. And a feminine ending -a- when paired with a feminine noun, for example: una calle hermosa).
Adjectives of the so-called general gender that end in -E- or a consonant. Such adjectives do not change their singular ending when paired with feminine or masculine nouns, for example:
grande- big, la casa grande- big house; el teatro grande- big theater
verde- green, la calle verde- green street; el lápiz verde- green pencil
principal- main, chief, la calle principal- main street; el instinto principal- basic instinct
EXCEPTIONS to the above rules are adjectives denoting national and geographical references ending in a consonant. They build up the feminine gender by adding -a-, for example:
Frances - francesa French - French
Ingles - Inglesa English - English
Alemán - alemana German - German
If you put an article in front of such an adjective, it becomes a noun, for example:
Un frances- French; una francesa- French
Un ingles- Englishman; una inglesa- Englishwoman
Un alemán- German; una alemana- German
Work through this material using the textbook “Theoretical and practical grammar of the Spanish language with exercises on all standard grammar and tests.”
You will spend 30 minutes on this lesson. To listen to the word, please click on the Audio icon . If you have any questions regarding this course, please contact me by email: Learn Spanish.
Below is a list of the most commonly used words, the scope of which is: Adjectives. The table below has 3 columns (Russian, Spanish and pronunciation). Try to repeat the words after listening. This will help you improve your pronunciation and also remember the word better.
List of adjectives
| Russian language | Adjectives | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| high | alto | |
| short | corto | |
| big | grande | |
| wide | ancho | |
| long | largo | |
| small | pequeño | |
| thick | espeso | |
| thin | delgado | |
| new | nuevo | |
| old | antiguo/viejo | |
| cheap | barato | |
| Expensive | caro | |
| young | joven | |
| elderly | viejo | |
| wrong | mal | |
| correct | correcto | |
| good | bueno | |
| bad | malo | |
| difficult | dificil | |
| easy | facil |
Here is a list of sentences containing several of the vocabulary items shown above on the topic: Adjectives. Sentences are added to help you understand how the structure of an entire sentence can affect the function and meaning of individual words.
Adjectives with examples
Food vocabulary
This is a list of food vocabulary. If you learn the following words by heart, it will make your conversations with the natives much easier and more enjoyable.
Food vocabulary
| Russian language | Food | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| breakfast | el desayuno | |
| lunch | el almuerzo | |
| dinner | la cena | |
| eating | la comida | |
| apples | las manzanas | |
| avocado | los aguacates | |
| bananas | los Platanos | |
| beans | las judías / las alubias | |
| bread | el pan | |
| butter | la mantequilla | |
| carrot | la zanahoria | |
| cheese | el queso | |
| chicken | el pollo | |
| coffee | el café | |
| corn | el maiz | |
| cucumbers | los pepinos | |
| eggs | los huevos | |
| figs | Los Higos | |
| fish | el pescado | |
| food, food | la comida | |
| Fruits | Las fruits | |
| garlic | el ajo | |
| grape | las uvas | |
| ice cream | el helado | |
| lemons | los lemons | |
| lettuce | la lechuga | |
| meat | la carne | |
| milk | la leche | |
| olive | las aceitunas | |
| onion | las cebollas | |
| Orange juice | El Zumo de Naranja | |
| oranges | las naranjas | |
| peaches | los melocotones | |
| pears | las peras | |
| pepper | los pimientos | |
| pineapples | las pinas | |
| pizza | la pizza | |
| potato | las patatas | |
| pumpkin | la calabaza | |
| salad | la ensalada | |
| salt | la sal | |
| sandwich | El Sandwich | |
| sparkling water | el refresco / la bebida gaseosa | |
| strawberry | las fresas | |
| sugar | el Azúcar | |
| tea | el té | |
| tomato | Los Tomates | |
| Vegetables | Las verduras / las hortalizas | |
| water | el agua | |
| watermelon | la sandia |
Daily Talk
Spanish phrases
| Russian language | Spanish | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Are you thirsty? | ¿Tienes sed? | |
| I'm hungry/hungry | Tengo hambre | |
| Do you have a bottle of water? | ¿Tienes una botella de agua? | |
| Breakfast is ready | El desayuno está listo | |
| What kind of food do you/you like/love? | ¿Qué tipo de comida te gusta? | |
| I love cheese | Me gusta el queso | |
| Sweet bananas | Los plátanos tienen un sabor dulce | |
| I don't like cucumbers | No me gusta el pepino | |
| I love bananas | Me gustán los plátanos | |
| Lemons are sour | Los lemons tienen un sabor agrio | |
| This fruit is delicious | Esta fruta es deliciosa | |
| Vegetables are healthy | Las verduras / hortalizas son saludables | |
| Hello! | Hola | |
| Good morning! | Buenos Days | |
| Good afternoon | Buenas tardes | |
| Good evening! | Buenas tardes | |
| Welcome! | Bienvenido/a | |
| How are you? | What do you think? | |
| How are you doing? | What do you think? | |
| How are you? / What's happening? | What do you mean? | |
| OK, thank you! | Bien, gracias. | |
| And you? | ¿Y tú? | |
| What about you? | ¿Y Usted? | |
| good, good, good, good | Bien |
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April 14, 2015
Adjective- this is a part of speech that denotes a feature of an object and answers the question what? Which?
For example: which one? Big, beautiful, smart, etc.
In Spanish, as in other languages, adjectives are divided into qualitative and relative. What's the difference?
Let's take a closer look:
Qualitative adjectives in Spanish they denote a characteristic or quality of an object and can have degrees of comparison.
For example: handsome - guapo, smart - inteligente, red -rojo
Relative adjectives in Spanish they denote the relationship of an object or person to another object. Such adjectives do not have degrees of comparison. As a rule, such adjectives can be easily replaced by a combination of a preposition and a noun.
For example: leather = made of leather coriàceo = de cuero, Madrid = from Madrid madrileño = de Madrid
Features of adjectives in Spanish:
1) Unlike Russian, in Spanish adjectives, as a rule, come after the noun. If we say “beautiful girl,” then in Spanish such a phrase should sound like “beautiful girl.”
For example: una chica guapa - a beautiful girl, un hombre inteligente - a smart man, una casa grande - a big house
2) Adjectives in Spanish change their gender and number depending on the noun they refer to.
Now let's look at how exactly adjectives change in Spanish.
1) Gender of adjectives in Spanish. Adjectives change gender depending on the gender of the noun they refer to.
- If an adjective in its initial form ends in -o, then when agreeing with a feminine noun, it changes the ending to -a.
For example: bonito - beautiful una casa bonita - beautiful house
Nuevo – new, una escuela nueva – new school
- If an adjective in its initial form ends in -e or a consonant, then when coordinated with a noun, the ending does not change.
For example: alegre – cheerful una chica alegre – cheerful girl
Difícil – difficult, una tarea difícil – difficult task
- If an adjective denotes nationality and ends in a consonant, then when agreed with a feminine noun, it changes the ending to -a.
For example: inglés - Englishman, una chica inglesa.
- If an adjective ends in -or, -án -or, -ín, then in agreement with a feminine noun it changes the ending to -a. Such adjectives denote characteristics of a person.
For example: hablador - talker - una mujer habladora - woman talker
Disputador - grumpy - una chica disputadora - grumpy girl
2) The number of adjectives in Spanish. Adjectives vary in number depending on the number of the noun they refer to.
- If the adjective ends in -о, -а, -е, then the ending -s is added when forming the plural.
For example: units una casa bonita – a beautiful house, plural. unas casas bonitas – beautiful houses
Units una chica alegre – cheerful girl, plural. unas chicas alegres – cheerful girls
- If the adjective ends in a consonant, then when forming the plural, the ending -es is added.
For example: units una tarea difícil – difficult task, plural. unas tareas difíciles – difficult tasks
Units una prueba facil – simple test, plural. unas pruebas faciles – simple tests
- If a singular adjective ends in a consonant -z, then when forming the plural the ending -z changes to -c and -es is added.
For example: units un hombre feliz – a happy person, plural. unos hombres felices – happy person
Team "Spanish with a smile" I sincerely hope that this article helped you understand the complexities of using adjectives in Spanish! And if you want to plunge deeper into the Spanish language, we invite you to join the course "Spanish with a smile" and start speaking conversational Spanish in just 3 months!
· SPANISH GRAMMAR ->
Adjective (nombre adjetivo)
The endings of adjectives (adjetivo) in Spanish vary depending on the gender and number of the nouns to which they refer. Adjectives usually follow the noun.
Masculine and feminine adjectives
Adjectives ending in –o, change their ending to –a in the case of the feminine gender. Adjectives with endings –e or consonant, have the same form for feminine and masculine genders.
For example:
Exceptions to this rule are adjectives that indicate nationality. More precisely, such an adjective can end like –o, and with a consonant, but in the feminine there will be an ending –a.
- For example:
- chinesco (Chinese) -> chinesca
- ruso (Russian) -> rusa
- japonés (Japanese) –> japonesa
- español (Spanish) -> española
- chileno (Chilean) -> chilena
- alemán (German) -> alemana
Another group of adjectives is an exception to the general rule. These are adjectives ending in -or, -án-or, -ín. Despite the fact that they end in a consonant, to form a feminine form, they add –a.
- For example:
- hablador (chatty) -> habladora
- trabajador (hard worker) -> trabajadora
- holgazan (lazy) -> holgazana
- dormilón (sleepy) -> dormilona
- traidor (treacherous) -> traidora
Note that some adjectives from this group have the same form as nouns formed from the same root.
- For example:
- dormilón – sleepy, sleepyhead
The exception to this rule is comparative adjectives, such as:
- mejor - the best
- peor - worst
And also words like:
- anterior - previous
- posterior - subsequent
- exterior - external
- interior - internal
- inferior - lower
- ulterior - further
They have the same shape in both masculine and feminine genders.
If nouns have diminutive suffixes –ito, -ete or augmentative suffix -ote, then they change by gender in this way:
- -ito -> -ita
- -ete -> -eta
- -oto -> -ota
- For example:
- negrito (black) ->negrita
- regordete (plump) –> regordeta
- grandote (hefty) -> grandota
Plural of adjectives
To form the plural, you need to add the ending to the adjective. –s, if it ends with -O, -A or –e. If the ending is a consonant, then add –es.
For example:
You've probably already noticed that if an adjective is singular. ends with –z, then in plural there will be an ending –ces. Also note that according to the rules for placing stress, in some cases there is no longer a need to place a graphic accent mark (acento) in the plural.
- For example:
- marron -> marrones
Here in units The last syllable is stressed, etc. this does not comply with the rule, it is marked using a graphic accent mark. Plural the stress falls on the same syllable as in singular, but this time the word ends in –s, and according to the rule in this case the stress should fall on the penultimate syllable. Thus, a graphic accent mark is not needed.
In all the examples above, the adjectives came after the noun. They had a descriptive function. If the adjective comes before the noun, then this gives the statement emotionality. In this case, the adjective functions as a descriptive epithet. Sometimes an adjective placed before a noun emphasizes qualities that the object of description always possesses (tautological epithet).
- For example:
- la blanca nieve - white snow
- las altas montañas - high mountains
- el profundo mar - deep sea
Short form of adjectives grande, bueno, malo
Some adjectives may have a truncated, short form that is placed before the noun. Such an adjective is the word grande(big). Its short form is gran, which is the same for both masculine and feminine genders. And if the short form is used gran, this gives the statement emotionality. But in the plural the truncated form turns back into the full form grandes.
- For example:
- la casa grande – big house
- la gran casa - huge house
- las casas grandes - big houses
- las grandes casas - huge houses
Adjectives also have a truncated form bueno(good) and malo(bad). But truncated forms buen And mal are used only for the masculine gender, and for the feminine gender the full form is placed before the noun buena And mala. For the plural, there is again no truncated form.
- For example:
- el asunto bueno - good deal
- el buen asunto - good deed
- los asuntos buenos - good deeds
- los buenos asuntos - good deeds
- el asunto malo - bad thing
- el mal asunto - evil deed
- los asuntos malos - bad things
- los malos asuntos - evil deeds
Construction de + noun
In addition to adjectives, the phrase preposition can serve as a definition de and the following noun. Typically this construction is used to describe the color or material from which an item is made. In this case, the noun in the construction is used without an article.
In Spanish, adjectives agree with nouns in gender and number and can be gender-inflected or gender-invariant.
1. If a masculine adjective ends in -o, then in the feminine gender it will end in -a:
masculine: el papel blanco - white paper
feminine: la mesa blanca - white table
2. If adjectives end in any vowel except -o, or for any consonant, then they have the same form for the feminine and masculine gender.
masculine: el papel verde - green paper, el cielo azul - blue sky
feminine: la mesa verde - green table, la pared azul - blue wall
An exception to the rule are adjectives denoting nationality. Such adjectives can end like -o, and with a consonant, but in the feminine there will be an ending -a:
chinesco (Chinese) – chinesca
ruso (Russian) – rusa
japonés (Japanese) - japonesa
español (Spanish) – española
chileno (Chilean) – chilena
alemán (German) – alemana
Adjectives ending in -or, -án-or, -ín, constitute another group of exceptions to the general rule. Even though these adjectives end in a consonant, to form the feminine form, add -a:
trabajador (hard-working) – trabajadora
hablador (chatty) - habladora
dormilón (sleepy) – dormilona
holgazan (lazy) – holgazana
traidor (treacherous) - traidora
Some adjectives from this group have the same form as nouns formed from the same root: dormilón - sleepy, sleepyhead.
Exceptions to this rule are comparative adjectives (mejor - best, peor - worst), as well as words like:
exterior - external
interior - internal
anterior - previous
posterior - subsequent
inferior - lower
ulterior - further
They have the same shape in both masculine and feminine genders.
If nouns have diminutive suffixes -ito, -ete or augmentative suffix -ote, then they change by gender as follows:
Ito -> -ita
Ete -> -eta
Oto -> -ota
For example:
negrito (black) ->negrita
regordete (plump) -> regordeta
grandote (hefty) -> grandota
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