Adjectives

Spanish Grammar 1

Chapter 5 · Adjectives: Agreement and Position

🎨 Adjectives: Agreement and Position — Los adjetivos

In Spanish an adjective agrees with its noun in gender and number: un coche rojo, una casa roja, unos coches rojos, unas casas rojas. It also normally comes after the noun, but a few adjectives change form (buen, gran, mal, primer) or change meaning when they come before it. This chapter gives the agreement patterns, the nationalities (which are adjectives and nouns at once), the position rules and the word pairs that mean two different things.

The rule in one box An adjective matches its noun in gender and number, whether it follows the noun (una casa grande) or follows ser (La casa es grande). Adjectives in -o have four forms (alto, alta, altos, altas); adjectives in -e or a consonant have two (grande, grandes). The usual place is after the noun. bueno, malo, primero lose their final -o before a masculine singular noun (un buen amigo), and grande becomes gran before any singular noun, with the meaning "great".

Agreement: four forms or two

Type	Masc. sing.	Fem. sing.	Masc. pl.	Fem. pl.
-o (four forms)	alto	alta	altos	altas
-e (two forms)	grande	grande	grandes	grandes
consonant (two forms)	fácil	fácil	fáciles	fáciles
-z (z → c)	feliz	feliz	felices	felices
-or, -ón, -án, -ín (four forms: add -a)	trabajador	trabajadora	trabajadores	trabajadoras

The plural follows the rules from Spanish Grammar 1 3: -s after a vowel, -es after a consonant, z → c, and the accent is added or lost to keep the stress (joven → jóvenes, inglés → ingleses).

Noun + adjective	Example
masculine singular	un coche rojo · un libro fácil
feminine singular	una casa roja · una clase fácil
masculine plural	unos coches rojos · unos libros fáciles
feminine plural	unas casas rojas · unas clases fáciles
after ser	Mi hermana es alta. · Mis hermanos son altos.

Watch out: one adjective, two nouns If the adjective describes two nouns of different gender, or a mixed group, it takes the masculine plural: Ana y Pablo son escoceses. · un niño y una niña simpáticos. If both nouns are feminine, it is feminine plural: Ana y Marta son altas.

Colours

Type	Colours
four forms	rojo, blanco, negro, amarillo → roja, blancas, negros…
two forms	verde, azul, gris, marrón → verdes, azules, grises, marrones
one form for both genders (from a noun)	naranja, rosa → naranjas, rosas in the plural

Nationalities

Nationalities are adjectives and also the nouns for the people. They are written with a small letter in Spanish, and the feminine usually adds -a. Those that end in -és, -án, -ón lose their written accent in every other form (inglés → inglesa).

Masculine	Feminine	Plural	Country
español	española	españoles, españolas	España
escocés	escocesa	escoceses, escocesas	Escocia
inglés	inglesa	ingleses, inglesas	Inglaterra
francés	francesa	franceses, francesas	Francia
alemán	alemana	alemanes, alemanas	Alemania
húngaro	húngara	húngaros, húngaras	Hungría
italiano	italiana	italianos, italianas	Italia
japonés	japonesa	japoneses, japonesas	Japón
estadounidense	estadounidense	estadounidenses	Estados Unidos
canadiense	canadiense	canadienses	Canadá
marroquí	marroquí	marroquíes	Marruecos

Latin America note americano is used in Spain for someone from the United States, but many Latin Americans object, because they are Americans too. estadounidense is the neutral word, and norteamericano is also common. For colours, Spain says marrón for brown, while Mexico and much of Central America say café; and "pink" is rosa in Spain but often rosado in Latin America.

Position: after the noun, with exceptions

A descriptive adjective normally comes after the noun, because it tells you which one or what it is like: un coche rojo, una casa grande, un libro interesante. Words that count or point out the noun (limiting adjectives) come before it: numbers, mucho, otro, este, mi.

Position	Kind of adjective	Examples
after the noun	colour, shape, nationality, material, any adjective that distinguishes	un coche rojo, una mesa redonda, un amigo español, una mesa de madera
before the noun	numbers, quantities, otro, and the possessives and demonstratives you will meet in Spanish Grammar 1 7	tres libros, mucha gente, otro día
either, with a shade of feeling	evaluative adjectives: bueno, malo, bonito, hermoso	un buen libro / un libro bueno

Putting a descriptive adjective before the noun makes it sound subjective or emotional, or it describes a quality we take for granted: la blanca nieve (the white snow). In everyday speech you will meet this mostly with bueno, malo, grande, pequeño, bonito and similar evaluations.

Shortened forms: buen, mal, primer, gran

Some adjectives lose their ending before a noun:

Full form	Shortened	When	Example
bueno	buen	before a masculine singular noun	un buen amigo, but una buena amiga, buenos amigos
malo	mal	before a masculine singular noun	un mal día, but una mala idea
primero	primer	before a masculine singular noun	el primer día, but la primera vez
tercero	tercer	before a masculine singular noun	el tercer piso, but la tercera calle
grande	gran	before any singular noun (masculine or feminine); means "great"	un gran hombre, una gran mujer
santo	san	before most saints' names	San Pedro, but Santo Tomás, Santo Domingo

Watch out: the short forms only work before the noun bueno and malo keep the full form after the noun (un amigo bueno, un día malo), and after ser (Es bueno.). The short forms also do not apply to the plural or the feminine of bueno, malo, primero. Only gran is used for both genders, and only in the singular.

Meaning changes with position

With a small group of adjectives, position changes the meaning: before the noun they have a figurative sense, after the noun a literal one.

Before the noun	After the noun
un gran hombre a great man	un hombre grande a large man
un viejo amigo a long-standing friend	un amigo viejo an elderly friend
un pobre hombre a poor (unfortunate) man	un hombre pobre a man with no money
una nueva casa a different, new-to-me house	una casa nueva a brand-new house
mi antiguo jefe my former boss	un edificio antiguo an old, ancient building
el único problema the only problem	un problema único a unique problem
un simple error a mere mistake	un error simple a simple, uncomplicated mistake
el mismo día the same day	el día mismo the very day

🗣️ In Use — En situación

Read the exchanges aloud and check each agreement.

① Describing people

A:¿Cómo es tu amiga?What is your friend like?

B:Es alta, morena y muy simpática.She is tall, dark-haired and very friendly.

A:¿Y su marido?And her husband?

B:Es bajo y muy trabajador.He is short and very hard-working.

② Nationalities

A:¿De dónde eres?Where are you from?

B:Soy escocés. Mi amiga Anna es húngara y su marido es inglés.I'm Scottish. My friend Anna is Hungarian and her husband is English.

③ A hotel

A:¿Qué tal el hotel?How is the hotel?

B:Es un buen hotel. Hay una buena piscina, pero hace mal tiempo.It's a good hotel. There's a good pool, but the weather is bad.

📋 Quick Reference — Resumen

Topic	Summary
agreement	adjective matches noun in gender and number, also after ser
four forms	-o: alto, alta, altos, altas; also -or / -ón / -án / -ín + -a
two forms	-e and consonants: grande(s), fácil(es), feliz → felices
mixed group	masculine plural
nationalities	small letter; inglés → inglesa; -ense and -í unchanged
position	descriptive adjectives after the noun; numbers and quantity words before
short forms	buen, mal, primer, tercer before masculine singular; gran before any singular noun
meaning shifts	gran / grande, viejo, pobre, nuevo, antiguo, único, simple, mismo

✏️ Try It Yourself — Ejercicios

Say the answer first, then click to check.

1. Make the adjective agree: una casa (blanco), unos libros (fácil), mis hermanas (alto), unos niños (feliz).

Show answer

una casa blanca · unos libros fáciles · mis hermanas altas · unos niños felices.

2. Give the feminine and plural: trabajador, español, inglés, alemán.

Show answer

trabajadora, trabajadores · española, españoles · inglesa, ingleses · alemana, alemanes. (The written accent is lost.)

3. Say in Spanish: "Ana and Pablo are Scottish." and "Ana and Marta are tall."

Show answer

Ana y Pablo son escoceses. (mixed group: masculine plural) · Ana y Marta son altas. (both feminine)

4. Put the adjective in the right place: un coche (rojo), tres libros (interesante), mucha gente. Why is the position different?

Show answer

un coche rojo (a descriptive adjective goes after the noun) · tres libros interesantes · mucha gente (a quantity word goes before the noun).

5. Shorten if needed: un (bueno) día, una (bueno) idea, el (primero) piso, la (primero) vez, una (grande) mujer.

Show answer

un buen día · una buena idea (feminine, no change) · el primer piso · la primera vez (feminine, no change) · una gran mujer (gran before any singular noun).

6. What is the difference: un viejo amigo and un amigo viejo?

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un viejo amigo is a long-standing friend (not necessarily old); un amigo viejo is an elderly friend.

7. What is the difference: un gran hombre and un hombre grande? And una nueva casa and una casa nueva?

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a great man against a large man · a different (new-to-me) house against a brand-new house.

8. Correct the mistakes: una casa grande blanco · el buen día malo · un mal idea · mis amigas escoceses.

Show answer

una casa grande blanca (or blanca grande; the adjective is feminine) · un buen día / un día malo (do not use both) · una mala idea (feminine) · mis amigas escocesas (feminine plural).

9. Say in Spanish: "She is Hungarian and he is Canadian."

Show answer

Ella es húngara y él es canadiense. (canadiense has one form for both genders.)

10. Say in Spanish: "It's a good hotel and a very big city."

Show answer

Es un buen hotel y una ciudad muy grande. (buen before a masculine singular noun; grande after the feminine ciudad, here meaning "big".)

Coming up in Chapter 6: Comparison and Superlatives. más / menos … que, tan … como, tanto … como; the irregular forms mejor, peor, mayor, menor; el más …; the absolute superlative in -ísimo; and cuanto más … más.