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4. Adjectives in Spanish
Adjectives are words to describe a noun e.g. tall, small, sweet, etc. Adjectives in Spanish have to agree with the gender of the noun as well as singular or plural. For example ‘un hombre rico’ - ‘a rich man’, ‘una mujer rica’ – ‘a rich woman’, ‘hombres altos’ – tall men, ‘casas lindas’ – pretty/cute houses. Notice how the adjective follows the noun in Spanish, unlike English.
The following are a list of common adjectives in Spanish.
grande |
big |
bonito |
pretty |
largo |
long |
bueno |
good |
limpio |
clean |
rico |
rich |
dulce |
sweet |
amargo |
bitter |
joven |
young |
gordo |
fat |
elegante |
elegant |
inteligente |
intelligent |
encantador |
charming |
pequeño |
small |
feo |
ugly |
corto |
short (length) |
malo |
bad |
sucio |
dirty |
pobre |
poor |
agrio |
sour |
salado |
salty |
viejo |
old |
delgado |
thin |
impresionante |
impressive |
importante |
important |
trabajador |
hard working |
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Remember: Any adjective that ends in –o must change to –a when describing a feminine noun and must be followed by an –s in the plural.
Un hombre feo/ |
An ugly man/ |
Hombres feos/ |
Ugly men/ |
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Adjectives can also describe which country a person or something is from. A section on Nationalities in Spanish can be found in the Basic Sentences Chapter.