Beyond their placement, a key distinction of Spanish adjectives from English is their agreement in gender and number with the nouns they modify. Unlike English adjectives, which remain constant regardless of the noun, Spanish adjectives change their form to match the noun's masculine or feminine gender and its singular or plural quantity.
Gender and Number Agreement
This grammatical rule, known as concordance, means that an adjective must reflect the noun it describes. This adds a layer of complexity to Spanish compared to English, where adjectives like "red" or "big" never change their form.
- Gender Agreement: If a noun is masculine, the adjective must be masculine. If it's feminine, the adjective must be feminine. Many adjectives ending in -o in the masculine singular form will change to -a for the feminine singular.
- Number Agreement: If a noun is singular, the adjective must be singular. If it's plural, the adjective must be plural. Typically, this involves adding -s for plural adjectives ending in vowels, and -es for those ending in consonants.
Examples of Agreement in Spanish:
To illustrate this core difference, consider the adjective rojo (red):
| Noun (Gender/Number) | Adjective (Base Form) | Agreed Adjective | English Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| el libro (masc. singular) | rojo | el libro rojo | the red book |
| la casa (fem. singular) | rojo | la casa roja | the red house |
| los libros (masc. plural) | rojo | los libros rojos | the red books |
| las casas (fem. plural) | rojo | las casas rojas | the red houses |
Practical Implications for Learners
Understanding gender and number agreement is crucial for constructing grammatically correct sentences in Spanish. It means paying attention not just to the vocabulary, but also to how words interact and change within a sentence. While English adjectives are static, Spanish adjectives are dynamic, constantly adapting to the nouns they describe.
- Masculine Nouns: Often end in -o (e.g., perro, dog), requiring masculine adjectives (e.g., bonito, pretty).
- Feminine Nouns: Often end in -a (e.g., mesa, table), requiring feminine adjectives (e.g., bonita, pretty).
- Plural Nouns: Whether masculine or feminine, require plural adjectives (e.g., perros bonitos, pretty dogs; mesas bonitas, pretty tables).
- Adjectives Ending in -e or Consonants: Many adjectives ending in -e (like verde, green) or a consonant (like azul, blue) do not change for gender, but they still change for number (e.g., el coche verde, la mesa verde; los coches verdes, las mesas verdes).
This fundamental difference in flexibility and agreement makes Spanish adjectives a bit more complex than their English counterparts, requiring learners to consider gender and number in addition to position when describing nouns.
