Adjective agreements
In Spanish, adjectiveUsed to describe nouns and must agree with the nouns they are describing. must agree with the nounThe name of a thing such as an object, a place or a person. Nouns are often described as naming words. they are describing, which means that they have to show if they are masculineAll nouns in French and Spanish are either masculine or feminine. or feminineAll nouns (for example in Spanish) are either masculine or feminine. and singularRefers to only one object or person. or pluralMore than one of an item. to match the noun.
Making adjectives agree
When you look up an adjective in the dictionary, it is always in the masculine singular form, eg blanco. Adjectives in Spanish usually follow the patterns in this table to agree with the noun they are describing.
| Adjectives ending in: | Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural |
| -o/-a | ܱño | ܱña | ܱños | ܱñas |
| -e | grande | grande | grandes | grandes |
| -or/-ora | trabajador | trabajadora | trabajadores | trabajadoras |
| a consonant | azul | azul | azules | azules |
| Adjectives ending in: | -o/-a |
|---|---|
| Masculine singular | ܱño |
| Feminine singular | ܱña |
| Masculine plural | ܱños |
| Feminine plural | ܱñas |
| Adjectives ending in: | -e |
|---|---|
| Masculine singular | grande |
| Feminine singular | grande |
| Masculine plural | grandes |
| Feminine plural | grandes |
| Adjectives ending in: | -or/-ora |
|---|---|
| Masculine singular | trabajador |
| Feminine singular | trabajadora |
| Masculine plural | trabajadores |
| Feminine plural | trabajadoras |
| Adjectives ending in: | a consonant |
|---|---|
| Masculine singular | azul |
| Feminine singular | azul |
| Masculine plural | azules |
| Feminine plural | azules |
Adjectives of nationality that end in -o, eg chino, argentino follow the same patterns as in the table above. Some adjectives of nationality end in a consonant, eg é, 貹ñDZ and á and they follow a slightly different pattern:
| Ending in -s | é | galesa | galeses | galesas |
| Ending in -l | 貹ñDZ | 貹ñla | 貹ñles | 貹ñlas |
| Ending in -n | á | alemana | alemanes | alemanas |
| Ending in -s |
| é |
| galesa |
| galeses |
| galesas |
| Ending in -l |
| 貹ñDZ |
| 貹ñla |
| 貹ñles |
| 貹ñlas |
| Ending in -n |
| á |
| alemana |
| alemanes |
| alemanas |
Question
Complete the sentences with the correct adjective endings.
- Alejandro tiene los ojos azul__ y el pelo cort__.
- Mi hermana es muy alt__ y delgad__.
- Mis amigos 貹ñDZ__ son generos__ y acogedor___.
- Vivo en una ciudad grand__ y ruidos___.
- Alejandro tiene los ojos azules y el pelo corto (Alejandro has blue eyes and short hair). The adjective azules agrees with the masculine plural noun ojos and corto agrees with the masculine singular noun pelo.
- Mi hermana es muy alta y delgada (My sister is very tall and slim). The adjectives alta and delgada both agree with the feminine singular noun hermana.
- Mis amigos 貹ñDZes son generosos y acogedores (My Spanish friends are generous and welcoming). The adjectives 貹ñDZes, generosos and acogedores all agree with the masculine plural noun amigos.
- Vivo en una ciudad grande y ruidosa (I live in a big and noisy city). The adjectives grande and ruidosa both agree with the feminine singular noun ciudad.