Adjectives

Descriptive Adjectives

Adjectives

Descriptive Adjectives

• Used with ser

• To point out characteristics like nationality, size, color, shape, personality, and appearance

Forms and Agreement of Adjectives

• Spanish adjectives change form to agree in gender and number with the nouns or pronouns they describe

• Examples:

  • Juan es simpático → Juan is nice

  • Elena es simpática → Elena is nice

  • Ellos son simpáticos → They are nice

Adjectives that end in -o

• Examples:

Adjectives that end in -e

• Have the same masculine and feminine forms

• Examples:

Adjectives that end in -or

• Vary in gender and number

• Examples:

Vocabulary

• alto/a → tall

• bajo/a → short (in height)

• delgado/a → thin

• gordo/a → fat

• grande → big

• pequeño/a → small

• bonito/a → pretty

• guapo/a → good-looking

• feo/a → ugly

• moreno/a → brunet(te)

• pelirrojo/a → red-haired

• rubio/a → blond(e)

• simpático → nice

• antipático → unpleasant

• joven (jóvenes) → young

• viejo/a → old

• inteligente → intelligent

• tonto/a → foolish

• trabajador(a) → hard-working

• bueno/a → good

• malo/a → bad

• fácil → easy

• difícil → difficult

• importante → important

• interesante → interesting

• mucho/a → much,, many, a lot of

Adjectives of Nationalities (aren’t capitalized)

• argentino/a → Argentine

• chino/a → Chinese

• cubano/a → Cuban

• ecuatoriano/a → Ecuadorian

• italiano/a → Italian

• mexicano/a → Mexican

• norteamericano/a → North American

• puertorriqueño/a → Puerto Rican

• ruso/a → Russian

• canadiense → Canadian

• costarricense → Costa Rican

• estadounidense → from the U.S.

• alemán, alemana → German

• español(a) → Spanish

• francés, francesa → French

• inglés, inglesa → English

• japonés, japonesa → Japanese

• hawaiano/a → hawaiian

Note: the masculine version of nationalities that end with a constonant have their accents dropped in the feminine/plural form

• Adjectives typically FOLLOW the noun

Possessive Adjectives

Adjectives

Forms of Spanish, Possessive Adjectives

Spanish Possessive Adjectives Agree In Number with the Nouns They Modify

• Examples:

  • Mi primo → my cousin

  • Mis primos → my cousins

  • Mi tía → my aunt

  • Mis tías → my aunts

• They also agree in gender with the nouns they modify

  • Examples:

    • nuestro primo → our cousin

    • nuestros primos → our cousins

    • nuestra tía → our aunt

    • nuestras tías → our aunts

Possessive Adjectives Come Before the Nouns They are Supposed to Modify

• Examples

  • ¿Está tu novio aquí? → Is your boyfriend here?

  • No, mi novio está en la biblioteca - No, my boyfriend is in the library.

Su and Sus Have Several Meanings

• Example:

  • “Sus parientes” can mean

    • His/her relatives

    • Your relatives

    • Their relatives

Adjective Formula

• article + noun + de + subject pronoun

• Example (sus parientes):

  • los parientes de él/ella → his/her relatives

  • los parientes de usted/ustedes → your relatives

  • los parientes de ellos/ellas → their relatives