Adjective Agreement
A1Adjectives change their ending to match the noun's gender and number, and most of them come AFTER the noun. A few short ones change form when they go before it.
In Spanish, an adjective is not a fixed word — it bends to match the noun it describes, in both gender and number. So 'red' is rojo, roja, rojos, or rojas depending on what it describes.
Position is the other surprise for English speakers: descriptive adjectives normally come AFTER the noun. 'A red car' is un coche rojo (literally 'a car red'), and 'an interesting book' is un libro interesante.
Get agreement right and your Spanish instantly sounds more natural; get it wrong and even simple sentences feel off.
Structure: noun + adjective, matching gender + number
Adjectives ending in -o have four forms
- masculine singular: rojo → el coche rojo
- feminine singular: roja → la casa roja
- masculine plural: rojos → los coches rojos
- feminine plural: rojas → las casas rojas
- El coche rojo y la casa roja son de mi tío. The red car and the red house belong to my uncle. rojo/roja agree with coche (m.) and casa (f.)
- Tengo unos zapatos negros. I have some black shoes. zapatos → masculine plural → negros
Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant
These do NOT change for gender — only for number. That makes them easier.
- -e: grande → un libro grande, una casa grande (no gender change)
- Plural of -e: add -s → libros grandes, casas grandes
- Consonant ending: azul → un coche azul, una flor azul; plural azules
- Exception — nationality adjectives ending in a consonant DO add -a for feminine: español → española, francés → francesa
- Una idea interesante y unos planes interesantes. An interesting idea and some interesting plans. -e adjective: only number changes
- Ella es española y él es francés. She is Spanish and he is French. nationality: española (fem.), francés (masc.)
Position: usually after the noun
Most adjectives follow the noun. A small group of common ones can go before, sometimes with a shift in meaning.
- Normal descriptive position: una película interesante, un día largo
- Numbers and quantity words go before: tres libros, muchas personas, otra vez
- Some change meaning by position: un viejo amigo (a long-standing friend) vs un amigo viejo (an elderly friend); un gran hombre (a great man) vs un hombre grande (a big man)
- Es un gran profesor. He is a great teacher. grande → gran before the noun, meaning 'great'
- Vivo en una casa grande. I live in a big house. after the noun, grande means physical size
Adjectives that shorten before a masculine noun
A few high-frequency adjectives drop their final -o right before a masculine singular noun.
- bueno → buen: un buen amigo (a good friend)
- malo → mal: un mal día (a bad day)
- primero → primer, tercero → tercer: el primer día, el tercer piso
- grande → gran (before ANY singular noun, m. or f.): una gran idea
- Hoy es un buen día. Today is a good day. bueno → buen before a masculine singular noun
- Es el primer libro de la serie. It's the first book in the series. primero → primer
Common mistakes
- ✗ una casa rojo ✓ una casa roja casa is feminine, so the adjective must be roja.
- ✗ los coches rojo ✓ los coches rojos Plural noun needs a plural adjective.
- ✗ un rojo coche ✓ un coche rojo Descriptive adjectives normally follow the noun.
- ✗ un bueno amigo ✓ un buen amigo bueno shortens to buen before a masculine singular noun.