Concordancia de adjetivos

You learned in previous lessons that nouns and articles in Spanish must agree in both gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural):

• el hombre (the man)
• los hombres (the men)
• la niña (the girl)
• unas niñas (some girls)

This same agreement must occur in Spanish when adjectives are used to describe nouns.  If the noun you are using is masculine-singular, the adjective must be masculine-singular as well.  It’s important to note that while the gender of nouns is an inherent property, adjectives do not have this inherent characteristic. The gender of an adjective will change according to the noun.

If the noun is masculine and singular, the adjective that describes the noun will also be masculine and singular:

• el chico generoso (the generous boy)

If the noun is feminine and singular, the adjective that describes the noun will also be feminine and singular:

• la chica generosa (the generous girl)

If the noun is masculine and plural, the adjective that describes the noun will also be masculine and plural:

• los chicos generosos (the generous boys)

If the noun is feminine and plural, the adjective that describes the noun will also be feminine and plural:

• las chicas generosas (the generous girls)

If an adjective ends in -o for the masculine form, it generally will also have a feminine form (generoso / generosa as shown in the examples).  If a masculine singular adjective ends in a consonant or a vowel other than -o (most commonly -e), such as importante, it does not change for gender but it will change for number:

• el documento importante (the important document)
• la clase importante (the important class)
• los documentos importantes (the important documents)
• las clases importantes (the important classes)

The plurals of adjectives are formed in the same way that you learned in previous lessons for nouns.  Add an -s if the word ends in a vowel; add an -es if the word ends in a consonant:

• el marcador verde (the green marker)
• los marcadores verdes (the green markers)
• la bandera blanca (the white flag)
• las banderas blancas (the white flags)
• la luz débil (the weak light)
• las luces débiles (the weak lights)

Adjectives are usually placed after the noun they are describing or after the verb ser.

• Mi mamá cocina comida rica. (My mom cooks delicious food.)
• Los médicos son inteligentes. (The doctors are intelligent.)

Indefinite adjectives, such as mucho (a lot, many), alguno (some), ningun (any), cada (every) and numbers, both cardinal and ordinal, precede the noun.

Note: There are a few exceptions to this placement that you will learn in future lessons.  Also, some adjectives mean something slightly different when used before a noun instead of after. Here are just a few examples:

• Alto (top or high / tall): Pagamos un alto precio (We pay a high price). Es un hombre alto (He is a tall man).
• Único (only / unique): Compramos la única marca (We buy the only brand). Tengo una mochila única (I have a unique backpack).
• Gran (great) or grande (big, large): Ella es una gran líder (She’s a great leader). Ella lidera un país grande (She leads a large country).

Another note: The word grande doesn’t just change meaning when used before a noun, it’s shortened to gran. Other words get shortened only before a masculine singular noun, including: bueno (buen), malo (mal), alguno (algún) and ninguno (ningún).

One more note: When you look up an unfamiliar adjective in the dictionary, only the masculine singular form will be shown.  You must change for gender and/or number to describe the noun you are using if it is not a masculine-singular noun.

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