Spanish Adjectives: Physical Characteristics, Personality, and Agreement Rules

Descriptive Vocabulary: Physical Characteristics and Personality

The fundamental question used to ask someone about their personal physical appearance or character traits is ¿Cómo eres? ("What are you like?"). Descriptors fall into two main categories: Características físicas (Physical characteristics) and Personalidad (Personality).

Header table defining physical characteristics and personality categories

Physical Characteristics (Características físicas)

  • alto / alta: tall

  • bajo / baja: short

  • delgado / delgada: slim

  • gordo / gorda: fat

  • atlético / atlética: athletic

  • guapo / guapa: good-looking

  • feo / fea: ugly

  • moreno / morena: dark-haired

  • castaño / castaña: brunette

  • rubio / rubia: blond / blonde

  • pelirrojo / pelirroja: red-haired (redhead)

  • joven: young

  • viejo / vieja: old

Personality Traits (Personalidad)

  • simpático / simpática: nice / friendly

  • antipático / antipática: mean / unfriendly

  • gracioso / graciosa: funny

  • divertido / divertida: fun

  • serio / seria: serious

  • tímido / tímida: shy

  • atrevido / atrevida: daring

  • trabajador / trabajadora: hard-working

  • hablador / habladora: talkative

  • perezoso / perezosa: lazy

  • inteligente: intelligent / smart

  • creativo / creativa: creative

  • amable: kind

  • generoso / generosa: generous

Spanish Adjective Agreement and Grammar Rules

Adjectives in Spanish must agree in both gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they modify.

Adjective ending rules by gender and number

Gender and Number Endings Matrix

  • Masculine Singular: ends in -o

  • Masculine Plural: ends in -os

  • Feminine Singular: ends in -a

  • Feminine Plural: ends in -as

Invariable Adjective Endings

  • Endings in "e" or a Consonant: If an adjective ends in the letter e (such as inteligente or amable) or in a consonant (such as joven), it does not change form between masculine and feminine singular.

    • Exception: Adjectives ending in -or (such as trabajador or hablador) form their feminine singular by adding -a (trabajadora, habladora).

Rules for Forming Plurals

  • Nouns/Adjectives ending in a vowel: Add -s to make the word plural.

  • Nouns/Adjectives ending in a consonant: Add -es to make the word plural.

Adjective Declension Reference Chart

Below is the complete grammatical breakdown across gender and number for common descriptive adjectives:

  • alto (tall)

    • Masculino singular: alto

    • Femenino singular: alta

    • Masculino plural: altos

    • Femenino plural: altas

  • bajo (short)

    • Masculino singular: bajo

    • Femenino singular: baja

    • Masculino plural: bajos

    • Femenino plural: bajas

  • rubio (blond)

    • Masculino singular: rubio

    • Femenino singular: rubia

    • Masculino plural: rubios

    • Femenino plural: rubias

  • pelirrojo (red-haired)

    • Masculino singular: pelirrojo

    • Femenino singular: pelirroja

    • Masculino plural: pelirrojos

    • Femenino plural: pelirrojas

  • viejo (old)

    • Masculino singular: viejo

    • Femenino singular: vieja

    • Masculino plural: viejos

    • Femenino plural: viejas

  • guapo (good-looking)

    • Masculino singular: guapo

    • Femenino singular: guapa

    • Masculino plural: guapos

    • Femenino plural: guapas