Adjective Agreement And Placement in Spanish

Explanation

   First of all, an adjective is a word that describes a noun by stating a characteristic, quality, etc. about it. Adjectives in Spanish generally go after the noun, which is the opposite in English. For example: camisa roja (literally shirt red) means red shirt in English.  
   Spanish adjectives also have more forms, since many have to agree in gender (masculine, feminine) and number (singular, plural). Thus, adjectives that end in o can have up to four different endings (o, a, os, as), while those with other endings can only have two forms (singular and plural).
   Finally, when an adjective ends in a consonant, it can only have two forms also (singular and plural). The plural form only adopts an es, jus like a noun.

Examples

Ending in -o
(4 endings)

  •  un chico listo (a smart boy)
  • una chica lista (a smart girl)
  • dos chicos listos (two smart boys)
  • dos chicas listas (two smart girls)

Other Vowel Endings
(2 endings)

  • un chico fuerte (a strong boy)
  • una chica fuerte (a strong girl)
  • dos chicos fuertes (two strong boys)
  • dos chicas fuertes (two strong girls)

Consonant Endings
(2 endings)

  • un examen fácil (an easy test)
  • una tarea fácil (an easy assignment)
  • dos exámenes fáciles (two easy tests)
  • dos tareas fáciles (two easy assignments)

More Examples

  • el lápiz amarillo (literally the pencil yellow, but it means the yellow pencil)
  • la casa roja (literally the house red, but it means the red house)
  • el perro pequeño (literally the dog small, but it means the small dog)
Remember: If you place them the English way, then you will really sound awkward. For example, if you say un amarillo lápiz , your Spanish will sound awful! It would be like someone asking for a pencil yellow!

Audio

First, do the activity on the right-hand side. Then, listen to this audio clip to check your answers. Finally, play it again and repeat after me to practice your pronunciation.

Grammar Practice