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Adjectives

Overview

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 hermosa

dos 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 :

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

Shortening of adjectives

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.

* See Placement of adjectives for information on how the meaning of adjectives changes with regard to their position relative to the noun.

Numbers

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.

Possessive adjectives

Click on "Possessive adjectives"

See also possessive pronouns.

Demonstrative adjectives

See 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.

If two or more adjectives modify a noun, the last two are linked by y, and they all follow the noun.

If an adverb like muy or poco modifies an adjective, the modifiers will follow the noun.

On the other hand, descriptive adjectives that express an assumed quality or connote subjectivity often precede the noun. Contrast the following pairs:

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.

2. Quantitative adjectives. Numbers either precede or follow the noun, depending on their use.

Cardinal numbers (uno, dos, tres) usually precede the noun.

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.

Comparisons of adjectives

See Comparisons of adjectives.

Superlative degree of comparison

See Superlative degree of comparison

See also

Comparisons of adjectives, adverbs, and nouns