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adjective agreement

 

 

All nouns and pronouns in Spanish are divided into genders.  Nouns for men and boys are masculine, while nouns for women and girls are feminine.
 

 

Adjectives are words that describe a noun or pronoun.
 

 

You can use the verb ser with adjectives to describe a person, place or thing.
 

 

Adjectives have different forms in Spanish that must match or agree in number and gender (masculine or feminine) with the nouns or pronouns they describe.
    Making the endings of adjective and nouns match is called gender or number agreement.
    Dictionaries list the singular masculine form for adjectives
    Many descriptive adjectives in Spanish end in -o in the masculine, singular and -a in the feminine, singular
               Carlos es bajo.    -   Ana es baja.
    Adjectives also agree with nouns in number.  An adjective that describes one person or thing is in singular form.  When an adjective more than one person or things, its form must be plural.
    If the singular form ends in a vowel add -s to make it plural.  If the singular form ends in a consonant add -es to make it plural. 
               bueno - buenos;   morena - morenasinteligente - inteligentesintelectual - intelectuales
    The masculine, plural form ends in -os and the feminine, plural form ends in -as.
    If an adjective describes a mixed group of males (masculine) and females (feminine) then the masculine, plural form is used.
 

Singular

Plural

Masculine

-o

-os

Feminine

-a

-as

 

Singular

Plural

Masculine

bueno
good

buenos
good

Feminine

buena
good

buenas
good

 

Singular

Plural

Masculine

el libro bueno
the good book

los libros buenos
the good books

Feminine

la clase buena
the good class

las clases buenas
the good classes

 

 

Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant, have only two possible forms (singular or plural) to indicate agreement.

 

Adjectives ending in -or and adjectives of nationality add an -a in the feminine, singular form and -as in the feminine plural form.

 
   

Singular

Plural

adjective - __e ending Masculine and feminine

__e

__es

adjective - consonant ending Masculine and  feminine

 __(consonant)

 __es

adjectives  -or ending Masculine

 ___or

 __ores

Feminine

 ___ora

 __oras

adjectives of nationality Masculine

 ___(no change)

 __es

Feminine

 __a

 __as

 
 

Singular

Plural

Masculine

grande
good

grandes
good

Feminine

grande
good

grandes
good

 
 

Singular

Plural

Masculine

el libro grande
the good book

los libros grandes
the good books

Feminine

la clase grande
the good class

las clases grandes
the good classes

 
 

 

To describe one person or thing, use es + singular adjective.
      El cuaderno es nuevo.

La carpeta es nueva.

 
 

 

To describe more than one person or thing, use son + a plural adjective.
   

 

Los cuadernos son nuevos.

Las carpetas son nuevas.

 
 

 

If you are describing a group of males and females, use a masculine, plural adjective
   

 

Los estudiantes son nuevos.

Los profesores son nuevos.

 
 

 

Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant such as l, r, or n have only two forms:  singular and plural.  To make these adjectives plural, add -s, if it ends in e or -es if it ends in a consonant. 
El libro es interesante. Los libros son interesantes.
La clase es fácil.  Las clases son fáciles.
 
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