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Spanish adjectives

Adjectives describe or give information about nouns or pronouns.

The form of adjectives in Spanish changes and it agrees with the noun and pronoun in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

The position of the adjective depends on the type of adjective (limiting adjectives or descriptive adjectives).

The adjectives can be:

- descriptive adjectives (nationalities, age, shape, size, colour, opinion, emotions, personality, physical appearance... ),

- limiting adjectives: demonstrative adjectives, possessive adjectives, indefinite adjectives, quantyfiers...

To form the adjectives

1. They must agree in gender with the noun they modify or add information.

- Most masculine adjectives end in -o: italiano
- Most feminine adjectives end in -a: italiana
- Adjectives that do not end in -o or -a use the same form for masculine or feminine: difícil, interesante, verde...
- Adjectives that end in -sta do not have changes: pesimista, realista, egoista...
- Adjectives that end in -or made the feminine by adding -a: encantador, encantadora.
- Adjectives that end in -án in the masculine form, made the feminine in -ana, dropping the accent: alemán, alemana.
- Adjectives that end in -és in the masculine form, made the feminine in -esa, dropping the accent: inglés, inglesa.

2. They must agree in number with the noun they modify or add information.

- If the adjective ends in a vowel, add -s: italiano - italianos, italiana - italianas.
- If the adjective ends in a consonant, add -es: encantador - encantadores.
- If the adjective ends in a -z, changes to c: feliz - felices.
- If the adjective end in -án, made the plural in -anes, dropping the accent: alemán, alemanes.
- If the adjective end in -és, made the plural in -eses, dropping the accent: inglés, ingleses .

Descriptive adjectives

1. Usually follow the noun: la camisa verde me parece más bonita.

2. If the adjective does not add a distinguishing characteristic or emphasis, descriptive adjectives precede the noun: la blanca nieve, la verde hierba...

3. Adjectives for character: abierto, cerrado, optimista, pesimista, idealista, realista, egoista, generoso, tacaño...

4. Ajectives for physical appearance: alto, delgado, esbelto, gordo, fuerte, débil, calvo, guapo...

5. Adjectives for emotions and feelings: contento, triste, enfadado, emocionado, deprimido, sorprendido, asustado, enamorado...

6. Adjectives for opinion: interesante, difícil, divertido, bonito...

7. Adjectives for colors: rojo, blanco, negro, amarillo, verde, marrón...

8. Adjectives for size and shape: grande, pequeño, laro, corto, estrecho, ancho...

9. Adjectives for age: joven, viejo, adulto...

10. Adjectives for origin: español, inglés, americano, francés, alemán, italiano...

11. Adjectives for temperature: frío, templado, caliente...

12. Adjectives for distance: cercano, lejano...

Limiting adjectives

1. Demonstrative, possessive, indefinite adjectives, ordinal and cardinal numbers usually precede the noun.

2. Demonstrative adjectives:

- este libro (this book), esta camisa (this shirt), estos libros (these books), estas camisas (these shirts)
- ese coche (that car), esa casa (that house), esos coches (those cars), esas casas (those houses),
- aquel chico (that boy over there), aquella chica (that girl over there), aquellos chicos (thoswe boys over there), aquellas chicas (those girls over there).

3. Possessive adjectives:

- mi coche (my car), mi casa (my house), mis coches (my cars), mis casas (my houses)
- tu coche (your car), tu casa (your house), tus coches (your cars), tus casas (your houses)
- su coche (his car, her car, your car-formal-), su casa (his house, her house, your house -formal-), sus coches (his cars, her cars, your cars -formal), sus casas (his houses, her houses, your houses -formal-)
- nuestro coche (our car), nuestra casa (our house), nuestros coches (our cars), nuestras casas (our houses)
- vuestro coche (your car), vuestra casa (your house), vuestros coches (your cars), vuestras casas (your houses)
- su coche (their your car-formal-), su casa (their house, your house -formal-), sus coches (their cars, your cars -formal), sus casas (their houses, your houses -formal-).

3. Indefinite adjectives:

- algún*libro (a book), alguna persona (a person), algunos libros (some books), algunas personas (some people)
- ningún* libro, ninguna persona

* alguno and ninguno precede a masculine singular noun, dropp the end and add an accent: alguno - algún, ninguno -ningún.

4. Quantifiers:

- demasiado tiempo, demasiada gente, demasiados libros, demasiadas personas
- mucho tiempo, mucha gente, muchos amigos, muchas amigas
- bastante tiempo, bastante gente, bastantes libros, bastantes personas
- poco tiempo, poca gente, pocos libros, pocas personas

5. Ordinal numbers:

- un libro, una casa, unos libros, unas casas
- dos libros, dos casas
- doscientos libros, doscientas páginas, trescientos (-as), cuatrocientos (-as), quinientos (-as)...

6. Cardinal numbers:

- primer * piso, primera planta, primeros años, primeras personas
- segundo piso, segunda planta,
- tercer * piso, tercera planta,
- cuarto piso, cuarta planta

* primero and tercero precede a masculine singular noun, dropp the end: primero - primer, tercero - tercer.