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Adjectives, Reflexive Verbs

An adjective (adjetivo) in Spanish or in English is a word used to describe a noun (like size, color, shape...). If you already have an idea about adjectives you can scroll down to the Summary to refresh your memory, otherwise you can start with us from here:

An adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Similar to nouns, an adjective usually end in (~o) for masculine (plural ~os), and (~a) for feminine (plural ~as):

-Un hombre alto (a tall man) -Unos hombres altos ( tall men) -Muchos libros (many books)

-Una casa pequeña (a small house) - Unas chicas peligrosas (some dangerous girls) - Muchas cosas (many things)

There are also some adjectives whose masculine singular ends in a consonant and form the feminine by adding -a:

Un amigo frances (a French friend - male-)

Una amiga francesa (a French friend -female-)

Some other adjectives ending in a consonant take the same form for both masculine and feminine:
un chico joven (a young boy)
una chica joven (a young girl)
unos cantantes populares (some popular singers)
unas canciones populares (some popular songs)

Usually descriptive adjectives follow the nouns they modify:
una ciudad limpia (a clean city).

But the tricky part is that Spanish adjectives are different from English adjectives, in English adjectives are found before the noun they modify, while in Spanish usually they're found after the noun they modify. And also because in Spanish the adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

When they precede the noun, such adjectives change meaning, acquiring a less literal sense:
El mendigo es un hombre pobre. (A beggar is a poor man.)
But: El pobre hombre tiene muchos problemas (The poor guy has many problems)

See how the position can define the meaning intended in the sentence. The first “pobre” means someone who doesn’t have money, but the second “pobre” means someone who deserve pity, and has nothing to do with money.

In most cases adjectives precede the nouns they modify whenever they:
- Express an essential quality:
la dulce miel (the sweet honey)
las verdes hojas (the green leaves)
- Point out, limit or quantify:
este perro (this dog)
su hija (his/ her daughter)
menos caliente (less hot)
tres manzanas (three apples)

Adjectives can be used as nouns, in that case they take a definite article:
Los pobres tienen muchos problemas. (Poor people have many problems.)

Adjectives are occasionally used adverbially:
Jose vive feliz en su granja. (Jose lives happily in his farm.)

So in short these are some rules to follow about the Spanish Adjectives:

Most Spanish adjectives end in (-o), and in order to make them feminine, change the o to an (-a), to make them plural, add -os (plural masculine); or -as (plural feminine).

When the adjective ends in (-a) or (-e), no difference will be made between the masculine and feminine form, and the plural is created by adding (–s).

- pobre ( for both masc & fem singular) - pobres ( for both masc & fem plural)

- egoísta ( for both masc & fem singular) - egoístas ( both genders in plural)

When an adjective ends in any consonant except r, or z, there will be no difference between the masculine and feminine forms, and the plural can be created by adding -es.     

- débil (for both genders in singular)  - débiles (for both genders in plural).

When an adjective ends with z, no difference will be made to both genders in singular, but in the plural we have to switch z to c and then add the usual -es.

- feliz ( for both genders) - felices ( for both genders in plural)

When an adjective ends in r, the feminine is formed by adding an (-a), the masculine plural by adding -es and the feminine plural by adding -as.

- encantador ( masc singular) - encantadora (fem singular) - encantadores (masc plural)  - encantadoras (fem plural)

At the end of this page you will find a list of the most used 101 adjectives.

Summary of Spanish Adjectives:

This is basically what you need to remember about adjectives, and the four forms they take:

Most Spanish adjectives end in o. To make them feminine, change the o to an a. To make them plural, add -os (plural masculine) or -as (plural feminine).

This is a list of some adjectives that you might find useful:

More Spanish adjectives can be found in the Vocabulary 4000 section.

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