Possessive adjectives and pronouns

3. ADJECTIVES

We often think of adjectives as “describing words”: they describe the noun they accomany. Usually adjectives in Spaish go after the noun they modify, although they can go at the front:

“una chica alegre” sounds better than “una alegre chica” In Spanish, adjectives have to agree with the noun they modify. This means that if the noun is masculine the adjective takes a masculine form. If then noun is feminine, the adjective must also be feminine. Likewise, use the plural form of the adjective to describe plural nouns. el chico guapo – la chica guapa – los chicos guapos – las chicas guapas

If the masculine singular form of an adjective ends in –o, then change into –a for the feminine form and add –s for the plural forms: alto, alta, altos, altas

If the masculine singular form of an adjective ends in –e, the feminine also ends in –e. Add –s for the plural forms: inteligente, inteligente, inteligentes, inteligentes

If the masculine singular form of an adjective ends in a consonant, the feminine form often ends in the same consonant, although there are many exceptions. Add –es to make it plural: azul, azul, azules, azules

Adjectives of nationality that end with a consonant usually have a feminine form that ends in –a. Add –es or –as to make them plural: español, española, españoles, españolas If the masculine form of these adjectives has an accent on the final syllable, this accent disappears when you make it feminine or plural: alemán, alemana, alemanes, alemanas

Adjectives that end in –or, -án, -ón, or -ín in their masculine form usually have a feminine form that ends in –a: hablador – habladora charlatan – charlatan tontorrón - tontorrona chiquitín - chiquitina Notice that the accents in –án, ón, ín disappear when you make them feminine. Make the plural forms following the usual rules.