Adjectives - Adjetivos
This lesson includes information on:
- Descriptive Adjectives
- Quantity Adjectives
- Possessive Adjectives
- Related Vocabulary
In Spanish, as in English, we use adjectives to describe things. Instead of saying, "He is a boy," we can give the boy more life and more character by saying, "He is a tall boy." The adjective "tall" helps to describe the noun "boy". The same is done in Spanish.
Gender
In Spanish, the spelling of adjectives usually change depending if the noun is feminine or masculine. Most adjectives end in "o" for masculine nouns and "a" for feminine nouns. For example, "El chico es alto," (The boy is tall) and "La chica es alta" (The girls is tall). However, there are some exceptions:
- Adjectives that end in "dor" are masculine and "dora" are
feminine
- Adjectives that end in "e" are both masculine and feminine
The 4 rules for making adjectives plural are the same for making nouns plural:
- If the adjective ends in a vowel
add "s".
- If the adjective ends in a consonant ad "es"
- If the adjective ends in an "s" do not change the word
- If the adjective ends in a "z" change the "z" to a "c" and ad "es"
Generally, adjectives follow the noun. For example, "La maestra inteligente (The intelligent tutor)." There are a few exceptions to this rule,
- "Buen" is used before a
noun and "bueno" is used after
a noun and they both translate to "good".
This same rule applies to "mal" and "malo" which means "bad".
- "Gran" is used before a
noun which means "great" but "grande" is used after a
noun which means "big".
For
example,
Spanish
English
El gran trabajador / el trabajador grande The great worker / the big worker - Some adjectives change meaning if used before or after a
noun:
| Spanish |
English |
| El pobre trabajador El trabajador pobre |
The pitiful worker The poor worker |
| El único
trabajador El trabajador único |
The only worker The unique worker |
| El viejo trabajador El trabajador viejo |
The worker for a long time The old worker |
Some adjectives describe quantity or how much. These adjectives are used almost always before the noun. Here is a list of common quantity adjectives (notice the masculine singular spelling of algún and ningún):
| Español | Inglés |
| Poco
/ pocos Poca / pocas |
Not
many or not much |
| Mucho
/ muchos Mucha / muchas |
Many
or very much |
| Algún
/ algunos Alguna / algunas |
Some |
| Ningún
/ ningunos Ninguna / ningunas |
None |
3. Possessive Adjectives
The following adjectives are used to describe the person who possesses the object:
| Spanish |
English |
| Mi |
My |
| Tu |
Your |
| Su |
His / her /their |
| Nuestro / nuestra |
Our |
| Spanish |
English |
| Su
libro es viejo Sus libros son viejo |
His
book is old His books are old |
| Su
libro es viejo Sus libros son viejo |
Their
book is old Their books are old |
| Spanish | English Translation |
| Alto | Tall |
| Bajo | Short |
| Limpio | Clean |
| Sucio | Dirty |
| Recto | Straight |
| Curvo | Curved |
| Abierto | Open |
| Cerrado | Closed |
| Seco | Dry |
| Mojado | Wet |
| Izquierdo | Left |
| Derecho | Right |
| Grande | Big |
| Pequeño | Small |
| Ancho | Thick |
| Angosto | Thin |
| Delgado | Slim |
| Gordo | Fat |
| Frío | Cold |
| Caliente | Hot |
| Lleno | Full |
| Vacío | Empty |
| Enfermo | Sick |
| Sano | Healthy |
| Feliz | Happy |
| Triste | Sad |
| Blanco | White |
| Negro | Black |
| Liviano | Light |
| Pesado | Heavy |
| Mucho | Much |
| Poco | Little |
| Despierto | Awake |
| Dormido | Asleep |