ADJECTIVES

Adjectives describe nouns.

In Spanish, descriptive adjectives (describing someone) go with the verb ser.

In Spanish, adjectives have to change based on the person or object being described.

Masculine singular, masculine plural
Feminine singular, feminine plural

MASCULINE sINGULAR

• Julio es simpáticO.
• (Form of ser used because it is a characteristic or a description.)
• Masculine adjective form used.

FEMININE SINGULAR

• Elena es simpáticA.
• Form of ser used again.
• The feminine adjective form is used since Elena is a girl.

PLURAL

• Julio y Elena son simpáticOS.
• Plural form of ser used because there is more than one person being described.
• Masculine plural form of the adjective used as well.

FEMININE PLURAL

• Elena y Marta son simpáticaAS.
• Son because the subjects are plural.
• It takes the feminine plural form because there is more than one girl.

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• El chico es alto.
• La chica es alta.
• Los chicos son altos.
• Las chicas son altas.

Adjectives that end in -e

Have the SAME masculine and feminine forms.

Julio es inteligente.
Elena es inteligente.

A few exceptions:
difícil —> difícil (masc and fem)
difíciles —> difíciles (plural)

trabajador —> trabajadores (masc)
trabajadora —> trabajadoras (fem)

Deportista (athletic) ALWAYS ends in an a, whether describing a boy or a girl.
Julio es deportista.
Elena es deportista.

Color and nationality adjectives are formed like other adjectives.

El carro es rojo.
La casa es roja.

Julio es chino.
Elena es china.

Nationality adjectives that end in a consonant add -a to make them feminine.

Julio es japonés.
Elena es japonesa.
Julio es español.
Elena es española.

POSITION OF ADJECTIVES

Most adjectives go AFTER the noun.

Él es un chico interesante.
Ella es una chica alta.

Bueno(a) and malo(a) can go before or after the noun.

Julio es un amigo bueno.
Julio es un amigo malo.

Elena es una amiga buena.
Elena es una amiga mala.

Bueno is shortened to buen before a masculine singular noun.

Julio es un buen amigo.

Malo is shortened to mal before a masculine singular noun.

Hoy es un mal día.

Gran means great.
Él es un gran hombre.
He is a great man.

Grande means big or large.
Él es un hombre grande.
He is a big man (stature).