Topic 5
Adjective agreement & position
The rule, in plain English
Adjectives match their noun in gender and number. -o adjectives have four forms (rojo/roja/rojos/rojas). Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant usually only change for number (grande/grandes; azul/azules). Most adjectives follow the noun.
Why it's hard for English speakers
English adjectives never change ('red car', 'red cars'). Spanish forces you to think about the noun's gender and number every time.
Four forms of -o adjectives
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | rojo | roja |
| Plural | rojos | rojas |
Examples
- el coche rojothe red car
- las flores rojasthe red flowers
- un libro interesantean interesting book (-e: no gender change)
- unos chicos altossome tall boys
Common mistakes
- las casas blancolas casas blancasMatch feminine plural.
- los libros interesantes rojolos libros rojosPlural agreement on colour too.
Practice
Exercises: 0 / 0 correct
the red flowers = las flores ___
tall (fem. sing.) = ___
unas chicas ___
big houses = casas ___