An adjective is a word used to describe or add information about a
noun or pronoun, as in:
the white cat
In Spanish, most adjectives are variable and change form depending on
whether the word they describe is masculine, feminine, singular or
plural,as in:
el gato blanco ............... the white (male) cat
la gata blanca ............... the white (female) cat
los gatos blancos .......... the white (male) cats
las gatas blancas .......... the white (female) cats
Many Spanish adjectives end in –o and, as we can see from the above
example of blanco (white), this type of adjective has four forms:
blanco ....... masculine/singular form
blanca ....... feminine/singular form
blancos ..... masculine/plural form
blancas ..... feminine/plural form
Adjectives that end in –e, however, do not change form for the
masculine and feminine but remain the same for both:
el chico pobre .......... the poor boy
la chica pobre .......... the poor girl
However, they do change form from the singular to the plural by adding – s:
los chicos pobres ....... the poor boys
las chicas pobres ....... the poor girls
Similarly, most adjectives which end in a consonant do not change form
for the masculine and feminine, but they do change form for the plural
by adding –es:
el hombre fiel .......... the faithful man
la mujer fiel ............. the faithful woman
los hombres fieles ... the faithful men
las mujeres fieles .... the faithful women
Some adjectives of nationality which end in a consonant do not,
however, follow this rule but add an –a to the feminine forms:
el hombre español .......... the Spanish man
la mujer española ........... the Spanish woman
los hombres españoles ... the Spanish men
las mujeres españolas .... the Spanish women
Adjectives which end in –or, -án, ón and –ín also have a feminine form:
el hombre hablador ............ the talkative man
la mujer habladora ............. the talkative woman
los hombres habladores ..... the talkative men
las mujeres habladoras ...... the talkative women
Adjectives – Part II
You'll have probably noticed from the previous chapter that, as a
general rule, in Spanish the adjective comes after the word it
describes – unlike English where it comes before.
However, adjectives which express quantity (ie how much or how many)
tend to be placed before the noun, for example:
mucho trabajo .......... much work
poco dinero .............. little money
There are also occasions when a descriptive adjective can precede the
noun, for example, when it refers to a quality which is inherent and
usually taken for granted, as in:
la blanca nieve .......... the white snow
In Spanish, there are also just a few adjectives which have a
different meaning depending on whether they are placed before or after
the noun.
For example:
un hombre pobre ... a poor man (in the sense of unfortunate)
un pobre hombre ... a poor man (in the sense of little money)
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