Regular Adjectives in Spanish

Overview

Adjectives in Spanish work differently from English in two important ways: they must agree with the noun they describe in both gender and number, and they usually come after the noun rather than before it. At the A1 level, learning how adjectives behave gives you the ability to describe people, places, and things with accuracy and natural-sounding Spanish.

The agreement system is consistent and logical. Most adjectives have four forms (masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural), though some have only two (singular and plural). Once you learn the patterns, applying them becomes automatic with practice.

Getting adjective agreement right is one of the things that makes your Spanish sound polished. Even at the beginner level, correct agreement signals that you understand how the language works.

How It Works

Four-form adjectives (ending in -o)

Adjectives ending in -o have four forms:

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	alto	altos
Feminine	alta	altas

Examples: bonito/a/os/as, pequeño/a/os/as, rojo/a/os/as, nuevo/a/os/as

Two-form adjectives (ending in -e or consonant)

Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant have only singular and plural forms, with no gender change:

Ending	Singular	Plural	Examples
-e	grande	grandes	inteligente, interesante, triste
consonant	fácil	fáciles	difícil, azul, joven, popular

Invariable adjectives

A few adjectives never change:

• Colors from nouns: rosa, naranja, violeta (camisas rosa, not camisas rosas in formal usage, though the plural is increasingly common)

Nationality adjectives

Nationality adjectives follow special patterns:

Type	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
Ending in -o	mexicano	mexicana	mexicanos/as
Ending in consonant	español	española	españoles/as
Ending in -e	canadiense	canadiense	canadienses

Note that nationality adjectives ending in a consonant add -a for feminine: español → española, francés → francesa, alemán → alemana.

Position: after the noun

Most adjectives follow the noun they modify:

• un coche rojo (a red car)
• una ciudad grande (a big city)
• estudiantes inteligentes (intelligent students)

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
un chico alto	a tall boy	Masculine singular
una chica alta	a tall girl	Feminine singular
estudiantes inteligentes	intelligent students	Two-form, -e ending
una ciudad grande	a big city	Two-form, -e ending
los coches rojos	the red cars	Masculine plural
las flores bonitas	the pretty flowers	Feminine plural
un ejercicio fácil	an easy exercise	Two-form, consonant ending
unas preguntas difíciles	some difficult questions	Consonant ending, plural
una mujer joven	a young woman	Two-form, no gender change
unos libros interesantes	some interesting books	Two-form, -e ending

Common Mistakes

Not changing -o adjectives for feminine nouns

• Wrong: una casa bonito
• Right: una casa bonita
• Why: Adjectives ending in -o must change to -a with feminine nouns. Gender agreement is not optional.

Changing two-form adjectives for gender

• Wrong: una chica inteligenta
• Right: una chica inteligente
• Why: Adjectives ending in -e do not change for gender. They only change for number: inteligente → inteligentes.

Placing adjectives before the noun (English word order)

• Wrong: un rojo coche
• Right: un coche rojo
• Why: Most descriptive adjectives follow the noun in Spanish. Some common adjectives can go before the noun, but that is the exception, not the rule.

Forgetting plural agreement

• Wrong: las casas bonita
• Right: las casas bonitas
• Why: Adjectives must agree in number as well as gender. If the noun is plural, the adjective must be plural too.

Practice Tips

• Describe objects around you. Pick five things and describe each one: una mesa grande, un teléfono negro, unas cortinas blancas. Focus on matching gender and number.
• Practice with people. Describe friends and family: Mi hermano es alto, mi hermana es alta, mis padres son simpáticos.
• Sort adjectives by form type. Make two lists: four-form adjectives (alto, bonito, nuevo) and two-form adjectives (grande, inteligente, fácil). This helps you know which ones change for gender.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Gender of Nouns
• Next steps: Adjective Position
• Next steps: Demonstrative Adjectives
• Next steps: Comparisons