Today we will receive useful information about the adjective in Spanish(Nombre adjetivo). The Spanish adjective is divided into two large subgroups:

• qualitative adjectives (calificativos):
• relative adjectives (relativos):

  el plan anual (annual plan),
  la región agrícola (agricultural region),
  el día estival (summer day)

This group of adjectives is similar in meaning to adjectives in the Russian language. They denote the quality, properties and attributes of the object or phenomenon that they describe.

Qualitative adjectives have 3 degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, superlative.

For example:

Relative adjectives

This group also indicates the attribute of an object, but at the same time an indication of its relationship to a person, phenomenon, action or another object is required.

These adjectives are formed from the already existing names of objects, actions or phenomena through which they express the attribute. They may indicate:

• the material from which the object is made (ferreo - iron);
• circumstances of time, place... (madrileño - Madrid);
• attitude towards a person or animal (felino – feline);
• attitude to an object or concept (marítimo - marine)
• relation to an action or concept (corriente - current).

In modern Spanish the preposition is often used de + noun, instead of one adjective, if they talk about the material from which the item is made: la caja de carton(cardboard box) instead la caja cartonera.

The peculiarity of Spanish adjectives is that there are many more qualitative adjectives than relative adjectives. And, plus everything, in Spanish there are no possessive adjectives, such as mother's, grandmother's, father's and the like.

Agreement of adjectives with nouns

A Spanish adjective always has a noun next to it that it describes. In most cases, a noun comes before an adjective. The adjective also agrees with the noun in gender and number. An adjective, agreeing in gender with a noun, has the same ending as the noun (not counting some exceptions, more on them later).

If the noun is feminine, then the adjective will have the ending -a. With a noun male there will be an adjective with the ending - o. They are called adjectives with two endings.

For example:

el papel blanco (white paper)

la mesa blanca (white table)

Adjectives of the same ending are characterized by ending with any consonant or vowel except – o. Their endings do not change depending on the gender of the noun.

For example:

el libro común (common book)

la causa común (common reason)

el papel verde (green paper)

la mesa verde (green table)

la casa grande (big house)

el país grande (big country)

All adjectives with the final suffix –ista are classified as adjectives with the same ending:

socialista (socialist)

idealista (ideological)

Adjectives that indicate nationality end in a consonant in the masculine, and adjectives that end in - an, - on, - or, in the feminine add the ending - a:

For example:

el periódico inglés (English newspaper)

la revista inglesa (English magazine)

el baile andaluz (Andalusian dance)

la canción andaluza (Andalusian song)

The position of the adjective relative to the noun (before or after) can change the meaning of the entire expression.

This applies to the following adjectives:

Spanish version of the word	Translation in position before a noun	Translation after a noun
	recently acquired	recently made
	unhappy
	ordinary	sad
	definite	famous

For example:

un buen hombre ( a kind person)

un hombre bueno (a good man)

un triste empleado (ordinary employee)

un empleado triste (sad employee)

It should be remembered that if these adjectives are combined with an adverb or some other word, then in this case they appear after the noun, regardless of the meaning expressed. It would be correct to say Juan es un hombre muy bueno(Juan is a very kind person). Instead of a phrase Juan es un muy buen hombre.

Truncated forms of adjectives

Sometimes it happens to use qualitative adjectives before a noun in singular. In this case, you should use the truncated form of the adjectives grande (great, big), malo (bad), bueno (good).

For example:

el gran hombre (great man)

un buen camino (good road)

el mal libro (bad book)

The adjectives bueno, malo can be used in a truncated form only before masculine nouns.

When describing the qualities of a group of nouns, an adjective usually agrees in gender and number only with the first noun from the group:

En el barrio hay nuevos almacenes, peluquería y cine (The block has new shops, a hair salon and a cinema).

Spanish adjectives are not as difficult as they seem. The lexical meaning must, of course, be memorized, but the use and agreement with nouns with practice becomes automatic, and you easily use them in speech. In studying any foreign language practice of using it in conversation is important.

You can also familiarize yourself with the rules for using adjectives here

Spanish adjectives, without cases, nevertheless change in number and gender (declined), while agreeing with the noun they define. - la mesa blanca (white table - the adjective blanca is singular and feminine in agreement with the noun (la) mesa); ojos blandos (eyes on a wet spot = wet eyes - the adjective blandos is plural, masculine in agreement with the noun ojos). In structural terms, the change in Spanish adjectives by gender and number occurs in an inflectional way - adjectival units are able to change their endings in the process of declension ((la) luz blanc+a (singular feminine) - techo blanc+o (singular ., masculine) - árboles blanc+o+s (plural, masculine) - flores blanc+a+s (plural, feminine).

Thus, Spanish adjectives following nouns can be used in two genders: feminine and masculine (g. - arboleda conífera (coniferous grove) - m. - (árbol) conífero (coniferous tree)). At the same time, adjectival units in this regard are divided into two main groups - 1. those that change their form when the gender changes, 2. those that do not change their form when the gender changes.

The first group includes units that have inflection -O in the masculine form, which will change to -A in the feminine gender. - guapo (el niño guapo (handsome boy) - la niña guapa (beautiful girl); el lápiz amarillo (yellow pencil) - la valla amarilla (yellow fence), etc.). The second group consists of adjectives with inflection –e or a consonant at the end (verde - green, grande - big, importante - important, gris - gray, azul - blue, etc.). Such units will be characterized by having the same form for both masculine and feminine genders. They are also often called vocabulary units of the same ending or general gender (la película documental (documentary film - f.r.) - el curso documental (documentary appeal - m.r.), importante evento ( an important event- m.r.) - la nota importante (important note - f.r.).

However, there are a number of exceptions to this rule. Thus, Spanish adjectives indicating the nationality of something or someone will take the inflection -a in the feminine gender, even though in the masculine gender they may end in a consonant (japonés (m. Japanese) - japonesa (j.b. - Japanese); francés (m.b. - French) - francésa (b.b. - French); alemán (m.b. - German) - alemana (b.b. - German), etc. .d.).

Exceptions to the basic rule will be adjectival units with -or and -án at the end. She will also form her feminine with the help of –a - dormilón (m.r. - sleepy) - dormilona (w.r. - sleepy); trabajador (m.r. - hard-working) - trabajadora (f.r. - hard-working); holgazán (m.r. - lazy) - holgazana (w.r. - lazy), etc. But words such as: ulterior (further), exterior (external), inferior (lower) and some others do not fit this category , as well as adjectives in the superlative degree of comparison (mejor - best, th). They will refer to units of a general kind.

Adjectives with augmentative (-ote) and diminutive (-ete, –ito) affixes will also have different masculine and feminine forms. - el cachorro regordete (m.r. a plump puppy) – la niña regordeta (m.b. a plump girl); el perro grandote (m. a huge dog) - la pala grandota (m. a huge, hefty shovel).

Type of inflection	Gender of Spanish adjectives
	Male	female
Changing inflections of adjectives: — on — on	-o ( blanco) Or (trabajador) Ete (regardete)	Ona (dormilona) Ora (trabajador) Ana (holgazana) Eta (regordeta) Ita (negrita)
Constant inflections of adjectives: –e Consonants (-z, -s, -l, -r) — except for units, symbol. nationality	-z, -s, -l, -r(gris, dificil)	E (importante) -l, -r, -z, -s ( gris, difficil)

In turn, Spanish adjectives can agree with nouns not only in gender, but also in number, thereby having the ability to be used in both singular and plural forms (singular - el gato negro (black cat) - plural .ch. - los gatos negros (black cats); singular - la mesa gris (gray table) - plural - las mesas grises (gray tables)).

The formation of adjectival units, in this case, occurs according to rules similar to those used in the formation of the plural of Spanish nouns: a unit with an unstressed vowel at the end + –s ( blanco (white) - blancos (white); fuerte (strong) - fuertes (strong), etc.); unit with a stressed vowel or consonant at the end + -es ( feliz (happy) – felices (happy + alternation –z-c); baladí (trivial) - baladíes (trivial), etc.) . It should also be noted that in the plural, Spanish adjectives retain their gender distinctions (plural and masculine - los lobos malos (evil wolves) - plural and feminine - las lobas malas (evil she-wolves).

	Gender of Spanish adjectives
	Male	female
Singular:	(el) gato) negro (el)caso)baladí (el) niño) feliz	(la) gata) negra (la) anecdota baladí (la) niña) feliz
Plural: Unsuccessful Ch. + –s percussion Ch. +-es acc. +-es	(los)gatos)negros (los) casos) baladies (los) niños) felices	(las) gatas) negras (las) anecdotas baladies (las) niñas) felices

The changes in Spanish adjectives by gender and number can be summarized in the following table:

Number of Spanish adjectives	Gender of Spanish adjectives
	male	female	common (adjectives of the same ending
The only thing: 1. adj., changing their shape when changing gender on -o on -on, -or, —on with augmentative (-ote) and diminutive (-ete, –ito) suffixes adjectives indicating nationality 2. adj., do not change their shape when changing gender with –e to consonants (-z, -s, -l, -r) some units on -on, -or, —on	(el niño) guapo (el niño) dormilón (el perro) grandote (el cine) Frances	(la niña) guapa (la niña)dormilona (la pala) grandota (la novela) francesa	(el episodio; la noticia) importante (el color; la almohada) azul (el piso; la tallera) inferior
Plural: 1. adj. ending in bad. Ch. (+ –s) 2. adj. ending in accent. Ch. or consonant (+ -es )	(los niños) guapos (los cines) franceses	List of factual material 1. Vinogradov V.S. Spanish Grammar. — M.: Higher School 2007 2. Collection. Foreign linguists on the problems of modern linguistics. — M.: Progress. 2005 3. Montes R.G. The development of discourse markers in Spanish: Interjections // Journal of Pragmatics. 1999. 31. P.1289-1319.

An adjective in Spanish, as in Russian, is an independent part of speech that denotes the attribute of an object and answers the questions “which?”, “what?”, “which?”, “which?”, “whose?”.

In Spanish, adjectives usually come after nouns.

Un cinta azul- blue ribbon. Un alumno capaz- smart student.

Moreover, relative adjectives always occupy this position, and qualitative adjectives can also appear before a noun.

Some qualitative adjectives have meanings that depend on their position in relation to the noun.

Adjective	Before a noun	After a noun
	former, former	Antique, ancient
	Some, some	Reliable, accurate
	The same, the same	Self, authentic, true
	New (recently purchased, next, different)	New (recently made)
	Poor (unhappy)	Poor (no money)
	Simple (uncomplicated)	Simple-minded, stupid
	Just, nothing more than, insufficient, meager	Sad, sad
	Old, antique, ancient	Old (by age)

There are also exceptions. For example, ordinal numbers can come after or before a noun.

There are also adjectives that always stand before nouns:

1. Expressing quantity: Mucho (many), poco (few), tanto (so much), cuanto (how much), demasiado (too much), bastante (enough).

2. Impersonal (indefinite) adjectives: Alguno (some, some), ninguno (none), cada (each), otro (other), todo (all), tal (such).

Sometimes moving an adjective to a position before a noun is a stylistic device in a literary text, emphasizing a characteristic quality or figurative meaning. For example:

El frio invierno - cold winter (characteristic quality)

Una dulce mirada - tender look (poetic, figurative meaning)

Short form of adjectives grande, bueno, malo

Some adjectives may have a truncated, short form that is placed before the noun. Such an adjective is the word grande (big). Its short form is gran, which is the same for both masculine and feminine genders. And if the short form gran is used, this adds emotionality to the statement. But in the plural, the truncated form again becomes the full form grandes.

For example:

Una ciudad grande- Big city. Una gran ciudad - big/great city.

Las ciudades grandes - big cities.

The adjectives bueno (good) and malo (bad) also have a truncated form. But the truncated forms buen and mal are used only for the masculine gender, and for the feminine gender the full form buena and mala is placed before the noun. For the plural, there is again no truncated form.

For example:

el asunto bueno - good deal

el buen asunto - good deed

los asuntos buenos - good deeds

los buenos asuntos - good deeds

el asunto malo - bad thing

el mal asunto - evil deed

los asuntos malos - bad deeds

· SPANISH GRAMMAR ->

Adjective (nombre adjetivo)

The endings of adjectives (adjetivo) in Spanish vary depending on the gender and number of the nouns to which they refer. Adjectives usually follow the noun.

Masculine and feminine adjectives

Adjectives ending in –o, change their ending to –a in the case of the feminine gender. Adjectives with endings –e or consonant, have the same form for feminine and masculine genders.

For example:

Exceptions to this rule are adjectives that indicate nationality. More precisely, such an adjective can end like –o, and with a consonant, but in the feminine there will be an ending –a.

For example:
• chinesco (Chinese) -> chinesca
• ruso (Russian) -> rusa
• japonés (Japanese) –> japonesa
• español (Spanish) -> española
• chileno (Chilean) -> chilena
• alemán (German) -> alemana

Another group of adjectives is an exception to general rule. These are adjectives ending in -or, -án-or, -ín. Despite the fact that they end in a consonant, to form a feminine form, they add –a.

For example:
• hablador (chatty) -> habladora
• trabajador (hard worker) -> trabajadora
• holgazan (lazy) -> holgazana
• dormilón (sleepy) -> dormilona
• traidor (treacherous) -> traidora

Note that some adjectives from this group have the same form as nouns formed from the same root.

For example:
• dormilón – sleepy, sleepyhead

The exception to this rule is comparative adjectives, such as:

• mejor - the best
• peor - worst

And also words like:

• anterior - previous
• posterior - subsequent
• exterior - external
• interior - internal
• inferior - lower
• ulterior - further

They have the same shape in both masculine and feminine genders.

If nouns have diminutive suffixes –ito, -ete or augmentative suffix -ote, then they change by gender in this way:

• -ito -> -ita
• -ete -> -eta
• -oto -> -ota

For example:
• negrito (black) ->negrita
• regordete (plump) –> regordeta
• grandote (hefty) -> grandota

Plural of adjectives

To form the plural, you need to add the ending to the adjective. –s, if it ends with -O, -A or –e. If the ending is a consonant, then add –es.

For example:

You've probably already noticed that if an adjective is singular. ends with –z, then in plural there will be an ending –ces. Also note that according to the rules for placing stress, in some cases there is no longer a need to place a graphic accent mark (acento) in the plural.

For example:
• marron -> marrones

Here in units The last syllable is stressed, etc. this does not comply with the rule, it is marked using a graphic accent mark. Plural the stress falls on the same syllable as in singular, but this time the word ends in –s, and according to the rule in this case the stress should fall on the penultimate syllable. Thus, a graphic accent mark is not needed.

In all the examples above, the adjectives came after the noun. They had a descriptive function. If the adjective comes before the noun, then this gives the statement emotionality. In this case, the adjective functions as a descriptive epithet. Sometimes an adjective placed before a noun emphasizes qualities that the object of description always possesses (tautological epithet).

For example:
• la blanca nieve - white snow
• las altas montañas - high mountains
• el profundo mar - deep sea

Short form of adjectives grande, bueno, malo

Some adjectives may have a truncated, short form that is placed before the noun. Such an adjective is the word grande(big). Its short form is gran, which is the same for both masculine and feminine genders. And if the short form is used gran, this gives the statement emotionality. But in the plural the truncated form turns back into the full form grandes.

For example:
• la casa grande – big house
• la gran casa - huge house
• las casas grandes - big houses
• las grandes casas - huge houses

Adjectives also have a truncated form bueno(good and malo(bad). But truncated forms buen And mal are used only for the masculine gender, and for the feminine gender the full form is placed before the noun buena And mala. For the plural, there is again no truncated form.

For example:
• el asunto bueno - good deal
• el buen asunto - good deed
• los asuntos buenos - good deeds
• los buenos asuntos - good deeds
• el asunto malo - bad thing
• el mal asunto - evil deed
• los asuntos malos - bad deeds
• los malos asuntos - evil deeds

Construction de + noun

In addition to adjectives, the phrase preposition can serve as a definition de and the following noun. Typically this construction is used to describe the color or material from which an item is made. In this case, the noun in the construction is used without an article.

+7(919) 784-86-56 oliva-morales

Adjectives in Spanish

In Spanish, they almost always follow the noun they define and agree with it in gender and number. The plural of adjectives is formed according to the same rules as nouns: if the word ends in a vowel, add -s-, and if it ends in a consonant, add -es-. For example:

un pájaro blanco- White bird, pájaros blancos- white birds;
una casa blanca - White House, casas blancas- white houses;
una joven hermosa - beautiful girl, jovenes hermosas- beautiful girls;
un joven hermoso- a handsome young man, jovenes hermosos- handsome young men;
una casa grande- big house, casas grandes- big houses;
un restorán grande- a large restaurant, restoranes grandes- large restaurants;

By gender they are divided into:

- masculine adjectives (ending -O-), for example
blanco- white
fino- graceful
hermoso- Beautiful

- feminine adjectives (ending -A-), for example
blanca- white
fina- graceful
hermosa- beautiful

(Thus, an adjective receives a masculine ending -o- when paired with a masculine noun, for example: un restorán hermoso - a beautiful restaurant. And a feminine ending -a- when paired with a feminine noun, for example: una calle hermosa).

Adjectives of the so-called general gender that end in -E- or a consonant. Such adjectives do not change their singular ending when paired with feminine or masculine nouns, for example:
grande- big, la casa grande- big house; el teatro grande- Grand Theatre
verde- green, la calle verde- green Street; el lápiz verde- green pencil
principal- main, chief, la calle principal- the main street; el instinto principal- the basic Instinct

EXCEPTIONS to the above rules are adjectives denoting national and geographical references ending in a consonant. They build up the feminine gender by adding -a-, for example:
Frances - Francesa French - French
Ingles - Inglesa English - English
Alemán - alemana German - German

If you put an article in front of such an adjective, it becomes a noun, for example:
Un frances- French; una francesa- French
Un ingles- Englishman; una inglesa- Englishwoman
Un alemán- German; una alemana- German

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