Spanish adjectives are words that modify and describe nouns (things, people, animals, places and ideas), providing information about their appearance, state, quality, or origin.
Spanish adjectives agree in gender and number with nouns. This means they are either masculine or feminine, singular or plural depending on the noun they modify:
un niño alto
a tall boyuna niña alta
a tall girlunos niños altos
some tall boysunas niñas altas
some tall girls
Careful: Unlike in English, Spanish adjectives usually go after the noun: Hay una araña grande en la cocina. / There is a big spider in the kitchen.
Masculine and feminine adjectives: gender agreement
Spanish adjectives agree in gender with nouns.
- Most adjectives have a masculine form ending in -o and a feminine one ending in -a. They can be made masculine or feminine by changing the ending:
| Examples of masculine (-o) and a feminine (-a) ending adjectives | ||
|---|---|---|
| bello, bella beautiful | pequeño, pequeña small | cómodo, cómoda comfortable |
| nuevo, nueva new | gracioso, graciosa funny | extraño, extraña strange |
| negro, negra black | hermoso, hermosa gorgeous | rico, rica rich |
| alto, alta tall | loco, loca crazy | simpático, simpática nice |
Un hombre rubio tocó el timbre.
A blond man rang the bell.Una mujer rubia tocó el timbre.
A blonde woman rang the bell.
- A large number of adjectives are invariable. This means they have only one form for both genders, with most of them ending in -e or a consonant. The article preceding the noun helps identify the gender:
| Examples of invariable adjectives | ||
|---|---|---|
| verde green | bilingüe bilingual | familiar familiar |
| triste sad | suave soft | nacional national |
| grande big | feliz happy | industrial industrial |
| pobre poor | polar polar | gris gray |
Al acusado lo declararon culpable.
The defendant was declared guilty.A la acusada la declararon culpable.
The defendant was declared guilty.
- A few adjectives ending in -a are invariable, remaining unchanged for both feminine and masculine forms: belga (Belgian), hipócrita (hypocritical), pacifista (pacifist), azteca (Aztec), croata (Croatian).
Mi bisabuelo era belga.
My great grandfather was Belgian.
Mi bisabuela era belga.
My great grandmother was Belgian.
Singular and plural adjectives: number agreement
Adjectives also agree in number with nouns, being singular or plural depending on the noun they modify. To form plural adjectives, an -s or -es ending is added to the singular form:
un auto rojo (singular) → autos rojos (plural)
a red car → red carsuna manzana roja (singular) → manzanas rojas (plural)
a red apple → red apples
Exception: A few adjectives are invariable in gender and/or number: gratis (free), isósceles (isosceles).
Adjective placement in Spanish
The usual position of Spanish adjectives is:
- Immediately after the noun:
El perro marrón es mío.
The brown dog is mine.
Me encantan las noches estrelladas.
I love starry nights.
- After the verb ser or estar (to be):
El auto de José es grande.
José’s car is big.
La farmacia está cerrada.
The pharmacy is closed.
Exceptions:
In a few cases, the adjective goes before the noun:
Céline Dion es una gran artista.
Céline Dion is a great artist.
Visitamos el Museo de Bellas Artes.
We visited the Museum of Fine Arts.In certain cases, the adjective can go before or after the noun with a change in meaning:
Ella es una gran persona.
She is a great person. (describing personality)vs.
Ella es una persona grande.
She is an adult person. (referring to age)
Es un pobre hombre.
He is a poor man. (feeling of pity or contempt)vs.
Es un hombre pobre.
He is a poor man. (with no financial means)
Careful: The adjectives bueno (good), malo (bad), and grande (big, great) drop the ending when used before nouns.
Common Spanish adjectives
For all the adjectives listed below, masculine and feminine forms are given. Adjectives with only one form are invariable in gender:
Adjectives to describe a person: physical attributes
| alto/alta tall | moreno/morena dark-haired | feo/fea ugly |
| bajo/baja short | pelirrojo/pelirroja red-haired | joven young |
| flaco/flaca thin, slim | guapo/guapa good-looking | viejo/vieja old |
| gordo/gorda fat | hermoso/hermosa cute | calvo/calva bald |
| rubio/rubia blond | bello/bella beautiful | pulcro/pulcra neat |
¿Cómo es tu hermana? Es alta y muy linda.
What’s your sister like? She’s tall and very pretty.Mi amigo es el chico moreno que está allá.
My friend is the dark-haired guy over there.
Adjectives to describe a person: personality
Positive personality adjectives in Spanish:
| alegre cheerful | sociable sociable | valiente brave |
| confiable reliable | sensible sensitive | paciente patient |
| amable kind | apasionado/apasionada passionate | amigable friendly |
| simpático/simpática nice | divertido/divertida fun | tranquilo/tranquila calm |
| inteligente smart | cuidadoso/cuidadosa careful | generoso/generosa generous |
Lo que más me gusta de ella es lo divertida que es.
What I like the most about her is how much fun she is.Pedro es apasionado de todo lo que hace.
Pedro is passionate about everything he does.
Negative personality adjectives in Spanish:
| egoísta selfish | tímido/timida shy | grosero/grosera rude |
| envidioso/envidiosa envious | entrometido/entrometida nosy | tonto/tonta foolish |
| testarudo/testaruda stubborn | travieso/traviesa naughty | impaciente impatient |
| avaro/avara greedy | agresivo/agresiva aggressive | impulsivo/impulsiva impulsive |
| arrogante arrogant | desleal disloyal | egocéntrico/egocéntrica self-centered |
Esos niños traviesos siempre se meten en problemas.
Those naughty kids always get into trouble.Él nunca comparte nada; es muy egoísta.
He never shares anything; he’s very selfish.
Adjectives to describe an object
| grande big | barato barata cheap | redondo redonda round |
| pequeño pequeña small | caro cara expensive | cuadrado cuadrada square |
| suave soft | brillante shiny | útil useful |
| duro dura hard | afilado afilada sharp | de moda trendy |
| áspero áspera rough | desafilado desafilada blunt | rayado rayada striped |
Este cuchillo está desafilado.
This knife is blunt.Me voy a poner un vestido rayado para la fiesta.
I’ll wear a striped dress to the party.
Adjectives to describe a place
| caluroso calurosa hot | sucio sucia dirty | aburrido aburrida dull |
| frío fría cold | peligroso peligrosa dangerous | tranquilo tranquila quiet |
| cercano cercana near | seguro segura safe | oscuro oscura dark |
| lejano lejana far | enorme huge | pintoresco pintoresca quaint |
| limpio limpia clean | diminuto diminuta tiny | abarrotado abarrotada packed |
¿Ese barrio es seguro para quedarse?
Is that neighborhood safe to stay in?Las Islas Canarias son un destino popular en España.
Canary Islands is a popular destination in Spain.
Adjectives to describe food
| delicioso deliciosa delicious | agrio agria sour | soso sosa bland |
| sabroso sabrosa tasty | amargo amarga bitter | rancio rancia stale |
| asqueroso asquerosa disgusting | picante spicy | tierno tierna tender |
| dulce sweet | caliente hot | fresco fresca fresh |
| salado salada salty | frío fría cold | bien cocido bien cocida well-cooked |
Este guiso es delicioso.
This stew is delicious.La trucha está bien cocida.
The trout is well-cooked.
Nationality adjectives in Spanish
Unlike in English, Spanish demonyms (nationality adjectives) are written in lowercase.
| argentino argentina Argentine/Argentinian | egipcio egipcia Egyptian | inglés inglesa English |
| brasileño brasileña brasilero brasilera Brazilian | español española Spanish | italiano italiana Italian |
| canadiense Canadian | estadounidense American | japonés japonesa Japanese |
| chino china Chinese | francés francesa French | mexicano mexicana Mexican |
| colombiano colombiana Colombian | indio india Indian, Hindu | portugués portuguesa Portuguese |
Estos lápices son chinos.
These pencils are Chinese.Manuel viene de una familia portuguesa.
Manuel comes from a Portuguese family.
More common Spanish adjectives
Sentences with Spanish adjectives
¡Mira qué hermoso atardecer!
Look how beautiful the sunset is!
Este ejercicio es muy difícil.
This exercise is very difficult.
Juana es una alumna ejemplar.
Juana is a model student.
No me gusta la comida picante.
I don’t like spicy food.
Estoy muy cansada como para ir al cine esta noche.
I’m too tired to go to the movies tonight.
Quisiera un café negro y dos medias lunas.
I’d like some black coffee and two croissants.
Era una noche oscura sin luna.
It was a dark night with no moon.
Me regalaron una bici nueva para mi cumpleaños.
I was given a new bike for my birthday.
La casa quedó muy linda después de ser restaurada.
The house looked very beautiful after being restored.
Ese cuadro antiguo está estimado en 10 millones de dólares.
That old painting is valued at 10 million dollars.
Su bello rostro se iluminó de alegría.
Her pretty face lit up with joy.
La sopa todavía está muy caliente.
The soup is still very hot.
El profesor es demasiado estricto.
The teacher is too strict.
Había una brisa fresca y agradable.
There was a cool pleasant breeze.
La zona es muy remota e inhabitada.
The area is isolated and inhabited.
Esa señora amable ayudó al señor mayor a cruzar la calle.
That kind lady helped the elderly man cross the street.
¡Qué viento más frío que hay hoy!
What a cold wind there is today!
No puedo dejar de leer este libro porque es muy interesante.
I can’t put this book down because it’s very interesting.
Me encantan las rosas amarillas.
I love yellow roses.
El proyecto es demasiado ambicioso para poder hacerse.
The project is too ambitious to be accomplished.
Related articles:
Practice: Spanish adjectives
References
- Real Academia Española, Nueva gramática de la lengua española, under “Clases de género. Sus características fundamentales,” accessed August 16, 2024, https://www.rae.es/
- Real Academia Española, Nueva gramática de la lengua española, under “Características generales de los adjetivos,” accessed August 16, 2024, https://www.rae.es/
- Real Academia Española, Nueva gramática de la lengua española, under “Posición del adjetivo en el grupo nominales. Distinciones fundamentales,”, accessed August 16, 2024, https://www.rae.es/
- Enciclopedia del Lenguaje, “Adjetivo,” by Carla Giani, last modified July 30th, 2024, https://lenguaje.com/
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary, accessed August 16, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/
- Oxford Spanish Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2003), CD ROM.
- Wordreference.com, accessed August 16, 2024, https://www.wordreference.com/es/
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