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Adjectives with Nouns in Spanish: Basic Rules and Usage

Learn how to use adjectives correctly with nouns in Spanish.

Basic Rules

  1. Agreement: In Spanish, adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in both gender and number.
  2. Position: Most adjectives in Spanish come after the noun they describe, unlike in English.
  3. Gender: Adjectives change their ending based on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
  4. Number: Adjectives also change to match whether the noun is singular or plural.

Gender Agreement

  • Masculine singular: usually ends in -o
  • Feminine singular: usually ends in -a
  • Examples:
    • El libro rojo = The red book
    • La casa roja = The red house

Number Agreement

  • To make most adjectives plural, add -s to those ending in a vowel, or -es to those ending in a consonant.
  • Examples:
    • Los libros rojos = The red books
    • Las casas rojas = The red houses

Common Adjective Endings

  • -o / -a: alto/alta (tall), bajo/baja (short)
  • -e: grande (big), verde (green)
  • Consonant: azul (blue), joven (young)

Exceptions

Some adjectives don’t change for gender:

  • Adjectives ending in -e: inteligente (intelligent)
  • Adjectives ending in consonants: feliz (happy)

Position of Adjectives

  1. After the noun (most common):
    • El coche rojo = The red car
  2. Before the noun (for emphasis or with certain adjectives):
    • Un gran hombre = A great man

Examples

  • El perro negro = The black dog
  • La mesa redonda = The round table
  • Los estudiantes inteligentes = The intelligent students
  • Las flores bonitas = The beautiful flowers

Common Descriptive Adjectives

  • Grande = Big
  • Pequeño/a = Small
  • Bonito/a = Pretty
  • Feo/a = Ugly
  • Nuevo/a = New
  • Viejo/a = Old
  • Bueno/a = Good
  • Malo/a = Bad
  • Alto/a = Tall
  • Bajo/a = Short

Practice Sentences

  1. El gato negro duerme en la cama cómoda. (The black cat sleeps on the comfortable bed.)
  2. Los niños felices juegan en el parque grande. (The happy children play in the big park.)
  3. Tengo una amiga inteligente y simpática. (I have an intelligent and nice friend.)
  4. Compramos unas manzanas rojas y dulces. (We bought some red and sweet apples.)

Remember to practice using these rules to improve your Spanish skills!