Qualifying adjectives are "lexical" rather than "grammatical" words. They do not describe the noun; they modify it by expressing qualities or characteristics.
- Mi novia es tailandesa.
(My girlfriend is Thai.)
- Tus coches son rojos y veloces.
(Your cars are red and fast.)
- Nos mira un gato delgado y triste.)
(A slim, sad cat is looking at us.)
As you can see, qualifying adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun. Many qualifying adjectives in Spanish have what we call "intensive" forms, which are formed by adding the suffix "-ísimo":
- Esa montaña es alta. (That mountain is high.)
- Esa montaña es altísima. (That mountain is very high.)
- Ese chico es guapo. (That guy is good looking.)
- Ese chico es guapísimo. (That guy is very good looking.)
Adjectives can also be combined with "lo":
- La quietud de la noche. (How quiet the night is.)
- Jaime está en lo alto de la torre. (Jaime is on the high part of the tower.)
- Lo hermoso de tus ojos. (How beautiful your eyes are.)
Qualifying adjectives must take on the gender of the noun they describe. Their endings change as follows:
masculine
form |
feminine
form |
example |
-o
-ete
-ote
-án
-in
-ol
-ón
-or
-és
-uz
|
-a
-eta
-ota
-ana
-ína
-ola
-ona
-ora
-esa
-uza |
pequeño, pequeña (small)
regordete, regordeta (plump)
grandote, grandota (big)
holgazán, holgazana (lazy)
parlanchín, parlanchina (talkative)
español, española (Spaniard)
burlón, burlona (joker)
trabajador, trabajadora (hard-working)
inglés, inglesa (English)
andaluz, andaluza (Andalusian)
|
Of course, some adjectives are invariable in both genders.
Some adjectives drop their final –o forms in front of a masculine noun:
- Bueno (good): buen hombre, buena mujer, hombre bueno.
- Malo (bad): mal día, mala tarde, día malo.
- Santo (Saint): San Antonio, Santa Teresa.
(note that Santo Tomás, Santo Domingo and Santo Toribio keep their full forms.)
- Primero (first): primer paso, primera mañana.
- Tercero (third): tercer piso, tercera puerta a la derecha.
The shortened form of "grande" can be used in front of any singular noun, but note the difference in meaning:
- grande (big): un coche grande (a big car.)
- gran (great): un gran coche (a great car.)
Adjectives derived from other words |
Semana/semanal
(week/weekly) |
Trigo/trigueño
(wheat/olive-skinned) |
Selva/selvático
(jungle/woodland) |
Sombra/sombrío
(shade/shady, gloomy) |
Adjectives derived from adjectives: |
Amarillo/amarillento
(yellow/yellowish) |
Verde/verdoso
(green/greenish) |
Rojo/rojizo
(red/reddish) |
Alto/altivo
(high/haughty) |
Adjectives derived from verbs: |
agradar/agradable
(to please/pleasant) |
vengar/vengativo
(to avenge/vengeful) |
decidir/decisivo
(to decide/decisive) |
sonreír/sonriente
(to smile/smiling) |
Position of adjectives |
|
Adjectives expressing color, shape, nationality or religion tend to be placed after the noun:
- Tengo un sombrero amarillo. (I have a yellow hat.)
- Era una mesa rectangular. (It was a rectangular table.)
- Su marido es estadounidense. (Her husband is American.)
Some adjectives change their meaning according to whether they are placed before or after the noun:
- Una cierta cosa, una cosa cierta.
(A certain thing, a certain (beyond doubt) thing.)
- Un pobre hombre, un hombre pobre.
(A poor (wretched) man, a poor (penniless) man.)
- Un gran hombre, un hombre grande.
(A great man, a big man.)
- Una sola mujer, una mujer sola.
(A single woman (just one), a single woman (on her own).)
- Un simple colega, un colega simple.
(A simple colleague (only a colleague), a simple(-minded) colleague.)
- Viejos amigos, amigos viejos.
(Old (long-standing)friends, old(aged) friends.)
Some adjectives can only be applied in a literal sense to certain classes of nouns, and their meaning change when they are used in a figurative sense:
- El campo está verde. (The countryside is green.)
- El niño está aún verde. (The child is still green (immature).)
- La leche está tibia. (The milk is warm.)
- El muchacho está tibio. (The boy is undecided (lukewarm).) |
|
