You've matched with a language exchange partner, and the app asks you to describe yourself and your family. You type: "Mi hermana es alto y mis padres son simpático." Your partner replies kindly, but corrects two words. Spanish adjectives change their endings to match the noun they describe. By the end of this lesson you'll know which ending to pick every time.
Level: A1.
Adjectives match their noun
An adjective takes the gender and number of its noun: masculine or feminine, singular or plural. English never does this, so it's the step beginners skip.
- el gato negro (the black cat)
- la casa blanca (the white house)
- los gatos negros, las casas blancas
The noun decides. The article (el, la, los, las) usually tells you which ending you need.
Adjectives ending in -o: four forms
Many common adjectives end in -o, and they have four forms.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | alto | altos |
| feminine | alta | altas |
Mi hermano es alto. Mi hermana es alta. Mis hermanas son altas.
Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant: two forms
These don't change for gender, only for number.
- -e: add -s. Grande → grandes, inteligente → inteligentes. El libro grande, la casa grande.
- Consonant: add -es. Azul → azules, fácil → fáciles.
- -z: change z to c, then add -es. Feliz → felices.
- -ista: one form for both genders. Un chico optimista, una chica optimista.
Watch the written accent: joven becomes jóvenes, gaining an accent, so the stress stays on the same syllable.
Two groups that do add -a
Some adjectives end in a consonant but still have a feminine form:
- Nationalities: español → española, alemán → alemana, inglés → inglesa, francés → francesa. The accent drops when the ending grows. Nationalities take a small letter in Spanish: soy inglesa, not soy Inglesa.
- -dor: trabajador → trabajadora, hablador → habladora.
- But not these: mayor, menor, mejor and peor never add -a: mi hermana mayor, la mejor amiga.
Where the adjective goes
Most describing adjectives go after the noun: un coche rojo, una ciudad bonita. Numbers and words of quantity go before: dos libros, muchas personas, pocos días.
A few common adjectives can go before the noun and get shorter:
- bueno, malo → buen, mal before a masculine singular noun: un buen día, un mal día. Feminine forms stay whole: una buena idea.
- primero, tercero → primer, tercer: el primer día, el tercer piso.
- grande → gran before any singular noun, and the meaning shifts: un gran amigo is a great friend; un amigo grande is a big friend.
Mixed groups
When an adjective describes a mix of masculine and feminine nouns, use the masculine plural: el chico y la chica son altos; los zapatos y las camisas son caros. That's why mis padres son simpáticos uses -os, even though one parent is a woman.
Spain and Latin America
The agreement rules are the same everywhere. The difference is "you" in the plural. In Spain, vosotros and vosotras are the informal plural, and the adjective follows: vosotras sois simpáticas. In Latin America, ustedes covers both formal and informal: ustedes son simpáticos, or simpáticas for a group of women. Some favourite words vary too: bonito is understood everywhere, while lindo is very common in much of Latin America.
Mistakes learners make
- Leaving the adjective in the -o form. Mi hermana es alta, not alto.
- Forgetting the plural. Los libros son caros, not los libros son caro.
- Inventing a feminine for -e or -z adjectives. La casa grande, not la casa granda; ella es feliz, not ella es feliza.
- Keeping the accent in the feminine. Inglesa, not inglésa.
- Saying "un bueno amigo". Before a masculine singular noun it's un buen amigo.
- Capitalising nationalities. Soy español, with a small e.
Frequently asked questions
How do adjectives agree in Spanish?
An adjective matches its noun in gender and number. Adjectives ending in -o have four forms (alto, alta, altos, altas); most others have two (grande, grandes).
Do Spanish adjectives go before or after the noun?
Most describing adjectives go after the noun, as in un coche rojo. Numbers, quantity words and a few common adjectives such as buen and gran go before.
What adjective ending do you use for a mixed group?
The masculine plural: el chico y la chica son altos.
Why is it "un buen día" and not "un bueno día"?
Bueno drops its -o when it comes right before a masculine singular noun. Malo, primero and tercero do the same.
Try it
Describe three people you know out loud, one man, one woman and a group, changing the adjective each time. Then answer your exchange partner: ¿Cómo se dice "my sister is tall and my parents are nice"?