LinguaThe adjective copies the gender of the noun
A Spanish adjective is not fixed: it changes its ending to match the noun it describes. El amigo es alto, but la amiga es alta. The rule you learned for nouns works again here: -o for masculine, -a for feminine. Look at the article of the noun, and the adjective must end the same way.
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| alto | alta | tall |
| bajo | baja | short (in height) |
| pequeño | pequeña | small |
| bonito | bonita | pretty, nice-looking |
| feo | fea | ugly |
| simpático | simpática | nice, friendly |
Adjectives that never change
| Adjective | Examples | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| grande | el libro grande, la casa grande | big |
| inteligente | un amigo inteligente, una amiga inteligente | intelligent |
| joven | el profesor joven, la profesora joven | young |
| mayor | mi amigo mayor, mi amiga mayor | older; elderly |
Adjectives ending in -e or in a consonant have one form for both genders: grande, inteligente, joven, mayor describe a man and a woman with the same letters. Only the article tells you who is meant: el estudiante inteligente, la estudiante inteligente.
After the noun, and stronger with muy
Unlike English, the Spanish adjective usually comes AFTER its noun: la casa grande, un amigo simpático. With ser it simply follows the verb: La casa es grande. To make it stronger, put muy (very) or bastante (quite, fairly) in front of it: muy grande, bastante alto. These two little words never change their form.
Mi amiga es muy inteligente.My friend is very intelligent.
La ciudad es bonita, pero bastante pequeña.The city is pretty, but quite small.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| alto | tall | Juan es alto y Ana es alta. Juan is tall and Ana is tall. |
| bajo | short (in height) | Mi amigo Luis es bajo. My friend Luis is short. |
| grande | big | Madrid es una ciudad grande. Madrid is a big city. |
| pequeño | small | Es un problema pequeño. It is a small problem. |
| bonito | pretty, nice-looking | Es una casa muy bonita. It is a very pretty house. |
| feo | ugly | El hotel es feo. The hotel is ugly. |
| joven | young | La médica es muy joven. The doctor is very young. |
| mayor | older; elderly | El profesor es mayor. The teacher is elderly. |
| inteligente | intelligent | Mi amigo es bastante inteligente. My friend is quite intelligent. |
| simpático | nice, friendly | El camarero es muy simpático. The waiter is very friendly. |
| muy | very | La canción es muy bonita. The song is very pretty. |
| bastante | quite, fairly | La casa es bastante grande. The house is quite big. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which form correctly describes la profesora?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.