Basic Adjectives in Catalan

Overview

Adjectives in Catalan must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. This is one of the key grammatical principles you learn at the A1 level. Unlike English, where adjectives never change form ("a big house," "big houses"), Catalan adjectives shift to match whether the noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural.

Most adjectives in Catalan follow the noun rather than preceding it: un gat negre (a black cat), not un negre gat. However, a handful of very common adjectives — such as bon/bona (good), mal/mala (bad), gran (big/great), and petit/a (small) — can come before the noun, especially in fixed expressions.

The agreement patterns are predictable once you learn the main rules. Adjectives with four forms (masculine/feminine, singular/plural) are the most common type, but you will also encounter two-form adjectives that are the same in masculine and feminine.

How It Works

Four-Form Adjectives

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	negre	negres
Feminine	negra	negres

Masculine sg.	Feminine sg.	Masculine pl.	Feminine pl.	Meaning
alt	alta	alts	altes	tall
petit	petita	petits	petites	small
nou	nova	nous	noves	new
bo/bon	bona	bons	bones	good

Two-Form Adjectives (same in m/f)

Singular	Plural	Meaning
gran	grans	big, great
jove	joves	young
amable	amables	kind
fàcil	fàcils	easy
difícil	difícils	difficult

Position of Adjectives

• After the noun (most adjectives): un llibre interessant (an interesting book)
• Before the noun (few common ones): una bona idea (a good idea), un gran home (a great man)
• Meaning changes with position: un home gran (a big/old man) vs. un gran home (a great man)

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
un gat negre / una gata negra	a black cat (m/f)	Four-form agreement
un home gran / una dona gran	a big man / a big woman	Two-form (invariable)
els llibres nous	the new books	Masculine plural
una bona idea	a good idea	Before the noun
la casa és petita	the house is small	Predicate adjective
els nens són joves	the children are young	Two-form, plural
una persona amable	a kind person	Two-form singular
el cotxe és vell	the car is old	Masculine predicate
les flors boniques	the pretty flowers	Feminine plural
un examen fàcil	an easy exam	Two-form singular

Common Mistakes

Forgetting feminine agreement

• Wrong: una casa petit
• Right: una casa petita
• Why: Adjectives must match the gender of the noun. Since "casa" is feminine, the adjective needs its feminine form.

Placing all adjectives before the noun

• Wrong: un interessant llibre
• Right: un llibre interessant
• Why: Most Catalan adjectives follow the noun. Only a few common ones (bon, mal, gran, petit) typically precede it.

Forgetting plural agreement

• Wrong: les cases gran
• Right: les cases grans
• Why: Adjectives must agree in number as well as gender. Even two-form adjectives add -s in the plural.

Practice Tips

1. When you learn a new adjective, immediately practice all its forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural. Write them in a grid.
2. Describe objects around you: "El meu telèfon és negre. La meva taula és gran. Els meus llibres són nous."
3. Pay attention to whether a new adjective has two forms or four forms. This determines how much agreement you need to track.

Related Concepts

• Gender and Number of Nouns — the foundation for adjective agreement
• Colours — colour adjectives with their agreement patterns
• Describing People and Appearance — using adjectives to describe people
• Comparatives and Superlatives — comparing with adjectives at B1