Purpose

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to correctly agree Spanish adjectives in gender and number, and place them correctly relative to the noun.

Lesson Explanation

Spanish adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Adjectives ending in -o change across all four forms: alto, alta, altos, altas. Adjectives ending in -e or most consonants don’t change for gender, only number: inteligente (both genders, singular), inteligentes (both genders, plural).

Adjectives of nationality ending in a consonant add -a for the feminine, genuinely different from the general consonant rule above: español → española, francés → francesa (note the accent drop in the feminine, since the added syllable shifts the natural stress).

Most descriptive adjectives follow the noun: una casa blanca (a white house). A small set of common, short adjectives can precede the noun, sometimes with a shortened form: bueno → buen and malo → mal before a masculine singular noun: un buen amigo (a good friend), not “un bueno amigo.”

A few adjectives genuinely change meaning depending on position — a nuance with real semantic weight, not just style: un amigo viejo (an elderly friend — age) versus un viejo amigo (a longtime friend — duration of friendship). Similarly, una casa grande (a big house — size) versus a rarer emphatic placement before certain nouns can shift emphasis, though “grande” itself doesn’t shorten before masculine nouns the way “bueno/malo” do.

Practice Questions