Adjetivos - Adjectives

Adjectives describe and provide details about people and things. They must agree in gender and number with the noun.

The adjective is placed next to the noun, many times after:

• La camisa blanca - The white shirt.
• La mochila nueva - The new backpack

You can also refer to the noun with a verb, mainly the verbs "ser" and "estar":

• Carlos es simpático - Carlo is nice.
• Mariana está enferma - Marianna is ill.

Concordance

The gender of the adjectives is linked to the end of the word. The simplest form is the ending -o for masculine and the ending -a for feminine, which are used for people and things.

• El vestido blanco - The white dress
• La camiseta blanca - The white T-shirt.

Other adjectives form the gender differently: if the masculine ends in a consonant, the feminine ends in -a.

• trabajador - trabajadora - worker,
• investigador - investigadora - researcher
• español - española - Spanish

Invariable adjectives

Some adjectives are invariable, that is, they do not change with the gender:

• un niño feliz - una niña feliz - a happy boy - a happy girl

Invariable adjectives can end in vowel (all except –o) or in consonant (–l, –n, –r, –s, –z). Some invariable adjectives are ...

• finished in -a: hipócrita (hypocritical), rosa (pink), violeta (violet), naranja (orange).
• finished in –ista, refiriéndose a profesiones y descripción de personas: electricista (electrical), coleccionista (collector), feminista (feminist), egoísta (selfish).
• finished in -e: inteligente (intelligent), triste (sad), grande (big), doble (double), verde (green), dulce (sweet), pobre (poor), posible (posible), londinense (London), canadiense (Canadian).
• finished in –ble: lavable (washable), reciclable (recyclable).
• finished in –ante: interesante (interesting), brillante (brilliant).
• finished in –í: they usually refer to nationalities: marroquí (Moroccan), iraní (Iranian), paquistaní (Pakistani).
• finished in –l: fácil (easy), azul (blue), total (total), débil (weak), parcial (partial), general (general), habitual (habitual).
• finished in -n: virgen (virgin), jóven (young).
• finished in -r: particular (particular), familiar (familiar), muscular (muscular).
• finished in –s: gris (grey).
• finished in -z: feliz (happy), veloz (fast).

As you can see, there are some rules and many exceptions. Don't worry. Remember this page and consult it if in doubt!

Adjectives: singular and plural

The plural of adjectives is formed in the same way as the plural of nouns.

If the adjective ends in a vowel, –s is added:

• alta -> altas (tall (fem))
• verde -> verdes (green)
• feo -> feos (ugly)

If it ends in a consonant, adds –es:

• azul -> azules (blue)
• joven -> jóvenes (young)

If the consonant is –z, changes into –c and ads -es:

• feliz -> felices (Happy)
• feroz -> feroces (ferocious)

Now it's your turn

Choose the correct adjective

1 - La camiseta de España es -- rojo roja rojos rojas . (The Spain shirt is red)

2 - Las niñas están -- feliz felices . (The girls are happy)

3 - Shakira es una cantante -- colombiano colombiana colombianos colombianas . (Shakira is a Colombian singer)

4 - Utiliza envases -- reciclable reciclables . (Use recyclable packaging)

5 - El lápiz -- verde verdes está sobre la mesa. (The green pencil is on the table)

6 - Aconcagua es la montaña más -- alto alta altos altas de América. (Aconcagua is the tallest mountain in America)

7 - La bandera de México es roja, -- blanco blanca blancos blancas y verde. (The flag of Mexico is red, white and green)

8 - El león y el tigre son animales -- feroz feroces . (The lion and the tiger are ferocious animals)

9 - Mi hermana prefiere la fruta -- maduro madura maduros maduras . (My sister prefers ripe fruit)

10 - Uruguay es un -- hermoso hermosa hermosos hermosas país sudamericano. (Uruguay is a beautiful South American country.)

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