Essential Spanish
Grammar – Adjectives
In English, adjectives appear before the noun they describe. In Spanish, the adjective typically follows the noun. However, there are some exceptions in Spanish. The adjective always follows the noun when it specifies something "una flor amarilla" ("a yellow flower", not the red flower or the pink one), or when it is related to relation or place "una regla gramatical", ("a grammatical rule"). One can only place adjectives more freely in prose and poetry. The order of adjectives within the sentence is not very important.
Let's look at the examples below:
- "Platero es pequeño, peludo, suave…" ("Platero is small, hairy, soft…")
The sentence could be rearranged without losing its meaning
- "Platero es peludo, suave, pequeño…"
On the other hand, in:
- "Cuando miro el azul horizonte perderse a lo lejos…" ("When I look at the blue horizon lost in the distance…")
The adjective "azul" is before the noun "horizonte". (prose or poetry)
In spoken Spanish, more than one adjective usually is positioned after the noun.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| La casa fría y oscura | The cold dark house |
| Me gusta tu cabello bello y largo. | I like your beautiful long hair. |
The relative position of noun and adjective sometimes introduces some differences in meaning. Look at these two sentences:
- Pedro es un inteligente muchacho. (Peter is an intelligent boy.)
- Pedro es un muchacho inteligente.
In the second example, the speaker highlights Pedro's intelligence.
In some cases, the adjective's position changes the sentence's meaning.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Alberto es un amigo viejo. | Albert is a friend who is old. |
| Alberto es un viejo amigo. | Albert is an old friend. |
Some adjectives always go before the noun.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| El mejor libro | The best book |
| La peor pintura | The worst painting |
In Spanish, nouns and adjectives must agree in gender and number.
| Spanish | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Volverán las oscuras golondrinas… | The dark swallows will return… | Feminine and plural |
| Los ojos azules de la niña brillaban en la oscuridad. | The girl´s blue eyes shined in the dark. | Masculine and plural |
| Tu sonrisa es bella. | Your smile is beautiful. | Feminine and singular |
| ¡Tú y tu estúpido honor! | You and your stupid honor! | Masculine and singular |
Often the participle form of the verb is used as an adjective.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| El niño dormido se movió. | The sleeping child moved. |
| El libro escrito por Rubén. | The book written by Rubén. |
| Los perros cansados dejaron de jugar. | The tired dogs stopped playing. |
| Las hojas caídas de los árboles se secaron. | The falling leaves from the trees dried. |
When the subject of the sentence has more than one noun, the adjective is always masculine if at least one of the nouns is masculine.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Conejos y liebres asustados corrían. | Scared rabbits and hares ran. |
Hombres y mujeres emocionados lloraban. |
Saddened men and women cried. |
Organizaciones y gobiernos unidos ayudan al pueblo haitiano. |
Organizations and governments together help Haitian people. |
Some adjectives in Spanish take their abbreviated form when used before nouns.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Ese es un buen libro. | It is a good book. |
| Ese es un libro bueno. | It is a book that is good. |
| La lluvia fue un mal presagio. | The rain was a bad omen. |
| La lluvia fue un presagio malo. | The rain was an omen that was bad. |
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