If you have not looked at how nouns and articles work then check out that page before you start with adjectives. Also, remember that adjectives describe a noun.
By now you should know that nouns have a gender, masculine and feminine, and that articles must match the gender of the nouns; el hombre, la casa, los hombres, las casas, etc.
There are a few key rules to remember when using adjectives:
Just like articles, the adjectives also change to match the nouns. If an adjective ends in an -o, the keep the -o for a masculine ending. Change the -o to -a for a feminine ending. Also, notice that the adjective is placed after the noun.
el hombre rico → the rich man
la mujer rica → the rich woman
el chico alto → the tall boy
la chica alta → the tall girl
Often times if the adjective ends in -or, -ol, or refers to a nationality then you would add an -a for a feminine ending.
hablador → habladora
español → española
encantador → encantadora
francés → francesa
alemán → alemana
If the adjective ends in a letter other that -o then that letter would remain unchanged.
el hombre fuerte → the strong man
la mujer fuerte → the strong woman
la casa grande → the big house
el edificio grande → the big building
el chico popular → to popular boy
la chica popular → to popular girl
Adjectives will also change if the noun is singular or plural. If the adjective ends with a vowel, then just add -s. If the nouns ends with a consonant, then add -es.
los hombres altos → the tall men
las mujeres altas → the tall women
los hombres fuertes → the strong men
las mujeres fuertes → the strong women
los chicos populares → the popular boys (kids)
las chicas populares → the popular girls
Adjectives that end with a -z will change to -c in the plural rule.
feliz → felices
capaz → capaces
Position of the adjectives
As you have already noticed, the adjectives usually go after the noun. However, you can put the adjectives in front of the nouns if you want to emphasize the inherent quality of an adjective.
mejor amigo → best friend
buenos recuerdos → good memories
mala persona → bad person
There are some adjectives that will change meaning depending on whether it is placed before of after the verb.
| Before the noun | After the noun | |
| antiguo | old/former | old/ancient |
| cierto | a certain | true |
| grande | great | big |
| mismo | same | oneself |
| nuevo | different | new |
| pobre | unfortunate | poor |
| propio | own | appropriate |
| simple | simple | silly |
| solo | only | lonely |
| único | only | unique |
The following adjectives change to a shorter form when placed in front of a noun.
| uno | un | one |
| bueno | buen | good |
| malo | mal | bad |
| primero | primer | first |
| tercero | tercer | third |
| alguno | algún | some |
| ninguno | ningún | no, not any |
| grande | gran | great |
Santo changes to San and is placed before the noun. If the saint’s name starts with To or Do then it just remains Santo.
San Luis
San José
Santo Tomás
Santo Domingo
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