Adjectives: how to describe people, places and things in Spanish.
We use adjectives to describe things.
In Spanish, adjectives usually go after the noun. A tall boy would be un chico alto.
The gender of the adjective also has to agree with the gender of the noun.
Una chica alt_a_ because chica is feminine.
In Spanish, adjectives also change depending on how many of something there are.
Gatos is 鈥榗ats鈥. If we use a plural word like gatos, then the adjective needs to be plural too - gatos negros.
'One' or 'a' red jacket would be una chaqueta roja but five red jackets would be cinco chaquetas rojas.
If you were talking about a video game, un videojuego, and you wanted to say it was fun, divertido, you鈥檇 say un videojuego divertido - a fun video game.
But, if you wanted to say 'two fun video games', you鈥檇 say dos videojuegos divertidos.
All the endings are plural and the right gender.
When you're thinking about what adjectives to use, the key is that they have to agree with what they鈥檙e describing.
Position of adjectives
Adjectives normally go after the noun in Spanish and agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the nouns they describe.
Look at the position of the adjective in these phrases:
el perro negro - the black dog
la casa blanca - the white house
The adjectives negro and blanca come after the noun in the Spanish translations of the phrases.
Agreement of adjectives
It is important to know the gender of nouns in Spanish as adjectives have to agree with (or match) the noun they describe.
For example:
un chico alt_o_ - a tall boy
una chica guap_a_ - a pretty girl
The endings in the adjectives alto and guapa have changed to match the gender of the nouns before them.
Now look at the number of each noun below and how the adjective has changed in these phrases:
dos perros negro_s_ - two black dogs
tres casas blanca_s_ - three white houses
Negros is masculine and plural to agree with dos perros and blancas is feminine and plural to agree with tres casas.
Comparatives
To compare two things in Spanish, use 尘谩蝉 + adjective + que to say more + adjective + than.
For example:
Un perro es 尘谩蝉 inteligente que un gato - a dog is more intelligent than a cat.
El chico es 尘谩蝉 alto que la chica - the boy is taller than the girl.
When you use an adjective to compare two things, the adjective still has to agree with the thing that it鈥檚 describing.
Look at the sentences above to see how this was done, then look at the following plural examples:
Los libro_s_ son 尘谩蝉 interesante_s_ que las pel铆culas - the books are more interesting than the films.
Las chica_s_ son 尘谩蝉 r谩pida_s_ que los chicos - the girls are quicker than the boys.
Notice how interesantes agrees with los libros (masculine and plural), and 谤谩辫颈诲补蝉 agrees with las chicas (feminine and plural).
You could also use menos + adjective + que to say less + adjective + than.
For example:
La chica es menos alta que el chico - the girl is less tall than the boy.
Esta falda es menos corta que la otra - this skirt is less short than the other one.
Have a go at this activity to check your understanding of adjectives in Spanish.
Quiz
Find out how much you know about adjectives in Spanish with this short quiz!
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