Grammar: Adjective

Adjetivo (Adjective)

An adjective is a word that describes an object or person. For example, in the expression “un libro nuevo (a new book)”, the word “nuevo” is an adjective.

In Spanish, the ending of an adjective depends on the gender and number of the noun that it accompanies. For example:

un amigo listo (a clever male friend: masculine singular)
una amiga lista (a clever female friend: feminine singular)
unos amigos listos (clever male friends: masculine plural)
unas amigas listas (clever female friends: feminine plural)

Some adjectives (those that don’t end in “о” or “а”) have the same ending for masculine and feminine:

un libro interesante / una película interesante – an interesting book/an interesting movie
unos libros interesantes / unas películas interesantes – interesting books/interesting movies

There are adjectives that can be easily confused with nouns. Pay attention to them:

parlanchín/parlanchina – talkative (masc./fem.)
cabezón/cabezona – stubborn (masc./fem.)
trabajador/trabajadora – hardworking (masc./fem.)
grandote/grandota – big (masc./fem.)

Adjectives that express nationality and origin ending in e, a, í or ú have the same ending for masculine and feminine and their respective plural forms:

un amigo árabe / una amiga árabe – an Arab male friend / an Arab female friend
unos amigos árabes / unas amigas árabes – Arab male friends / Arab female friends

Attention!
Masculine adjectives with the stress mark at the last syllable lose the stress mark in feminine:

francés/francesa – French (male/female)
juguetón/juguetona – playful (male/femal)

In Spanish, adjectives are usually placed after the noun: una casa grande (a big house); un niño pequeño (a little child); un paisaje bonito (a beautiful landscape). But there are exceptions:

Ordinal numerals usually stand before the noun:

el primer piso / el segundo piso (the first floor/the second floor)

The words “mucho (-a), poco (-a), otro (-a)” always go before the noun:

mucho trabajo (a lot of work)
pocas personas (few people)
otra cosa (different thing)

An adjective in position before a noun can be a stylistic device. This word order usually expresses the subjective assessment of the speaker:

Tengo un trabajo bueno. – I have a good job (This is a neutral expression. The job is objectively good).
Tengo un buen trabajo. – I have a good job (Sounds more subjective. I have a job that I think is good).

Some adjectives change their meaning depending on their position in relation to the noun. Compare:

un hombre pobre – a poor person (no money)
un pobre hombre – a poor fellow (unfortunate)

una mujer grande – a big woman (large)
una gran mujer – a great woman

una casa antigua – an old house
mi antigua casa – my old house (former, previous)

Attention!
Some adjectives lose their “o” ending when placed before a noun:

un buen coche (a good car)
el primer piso (the first floor)
el tercer puesto (the third place)

The word “grande” before a noun loses the -de ending:

una gran ciudad (a large/great city)

Adjective emphasis:

In Spanish, the meaning of an adjective can be strengthened with “muy” or the endings -ísimo (-a, -os, -as):

un restaurante muy caro (a very expensive restaurant)
un restaurante carísimo (an incredibly expensive restaurant)
un libro muy interesante (a very interesting book)
un libro interesantísimo (an incredibly interesting book)

The meaning of an adjective can also be strengthened by some adverbs:

extraordinariamente inteligente (extraordinarily intelligent)
bastante importante (quite important)
un poco aburrido (a bit boring)
poco amable (not very friendly)
nada barato (not cheap at all)

Attention!
Some adjectives change their spelling when adding -ísimo:

amargo – amarguísimo (bitter – extremely bitter)
rico – riquísimo (rich/delicious – extremely rich/delicious)

A number of adjectives undergo changes in stem:

amable – amabilísimo (amiable – extremely amiable)
antiguo – antiquísimo (old – extremely old)
fuerte – fortísimo (strong – extremely strong)

Degrees of comparison of adjectives:

Equality	Comparative degree	Superlative degree
tan…como Soy tan rápido como tú. I’m as fast as you are. igual de…que Soy igual de rápido que tú. I’m as fast as you are.	más…que (more, than) Mi casa es más cara que la tuya. My house is more expensive than yours. menos…que (less, than) Tu casa es menos cara que la mía. Your house is less expensive than mine.	el/la más … de (the most) Es el más rápido de todos. He is the fastest of all. el/la menos…de Es el menos rápido de todos. He is the slowest of all.

The adjectives “malo” and “bueno” have special forms of comparative and superlative degrees:

bueno – mejor – el mejor (good – better – the best):
La mesa blanca es mejor que la negra. – The white table is better than the black one.
Somos los mejores. – We are the best.
malo – peor – el peor (bad – worse – the worst)
La pelicula es peor que el libro. – The movie is worse than the book.
Estos futbolistas son los peores. – These soccer players are the worst.

The adjectives “grande” and “pequeño” have two comparative and superlative forms. The normal form is used when we speak about size:

grande – más grande – el más grande (big – bigger – the biggest):
Mi piso es mas grande que el tuyo. – My apartment is bigger than yours.
pequeño – más pequeño – el más pequeño (small – smaller – the smallest):

más pequeña

Special forms of these adjectives are used when we speak about age:

grande – mayor – el más mayor (big – older – the oldest):
Mi hijo es mayor que el tuyo. – My son is older than yours.
pequeño – menor – el menor (small – smaller/younger – the youngest):
Este niño es el menor de todos. – This boy is the youngest of all.