A1Spanish · Grammar

Basic Adjectives

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Adjective Agreement in Spanish: Gender and Number

In Spanish, adjectives (adjetivos) describe nouns (sustantivos). They must agree with the noun in both gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural). This is a very important rule to learn right at the beginning of your Spanish journey!

Noun (gender + number) + Adjective (gender + number)

Let's look at how adjectives change to match their nouns.

Adjectives ending in -o (masculine) and -a (feminine)

Most adjectives change their ending depending on the noun's gender. If the noun is masculine, the adjective ends in -o. If the noun is feminine, the adjective ends in -a.

Gender	Singular	Plural
Masculine	bueno	buenos
Feminine	buena	buenas

El libro es bueno.
The book is good.

La manzana es buena.
The apple is good.

Adjectives ending in -e (gender-neutral)

Some adjectives end in -e. These adjectives stay the same for both masculine and feminine nouns in the singular form. They only change in the plural, by adding -s.

Gender	Singular	Plural
Masculine/Feminine	grande	grandes

El coche es grande.
The car is big.

La casa es grande.
The house is big.

Adjectives ending in a consonant

Adjectives ending in a consonant can be a bit trickier. We have two main types:

Gender-neutral: For masculine and feminine singular nouns, they have the same form (e.g., fácil - easy). In the plural, we add -es.
Gender-specific: These adjectives add an -a for the feminine singular (e.g., español/española). In the plural, we add -es for masculine and -as for feminine. These often include nationalities or personality traits.

El examen es fácil.
The exam is easy.

La pregunta es fácil.
The question is easy.

Gender	Singular	Plural
Masculine	español	españoles
Feminine	española	españolas

Mi amigo es español.
My friend (male) is Spanish.

Mi amiga es española.
My friend (female) is Spanish.

How to form the plural of adjectives

It's simple! Just remember two rules:

If the adjective ends in a vowel (-a, -e, -o), add -s. (e.g., bonito -> bonitos, grande -> grandes)
If the adjective ends in a consonant, add -es. (e.g., fácil -> fáciles, español -> españoles)

Watch out! (¡Ojo!) 🚨 In Spanish, the adjective almost always comes AFTER the noun it describes. ✅ el coche rojo (the red car) ❌ el rojo coche (unless in poetry or for special emphasis, but at A1 level, stick to: adjective after the noun).

Memory trick: Adjectives are like best friends! ✨ Think of the noun as the 'boss'. It tells its adjective 'best friend' what gender and number to be. The adjective always matches its noun and almost always follows it!

Los libros son interesantes.

Los libros son interesante.

The noun "libros" is plural, so the adjective "interesante" must also be plural: "interesantes".

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