Spanish Adjectives
In this lesson of the Learn Spanish course, you'll learn how to use adjectives in the Spanish language. You'll also learn some useful Spanish sentence templates that you can use with adjectives to increase your ability to describe people and objects in Spanish.
This lesson also contains a list of some very common Spanish adjectives. Online flashcards and a quiz are included at the end of the lesson to help you learn the adjectives.
Spanish Grammar
Adjectives are words that are used to describe or provide extra information about a noun or pronoun. Some adjectives describe how much or how many of a noun there is, such as poco, alguno, mucho, and todo.
Adjectives in Spanish are a bit more complicated than in English. Whereas in English there is only one form of an adjective, in Spanish an adjectives has different forms depending on the gender of the noun it describes, and whether the noun is singular or plural. Adjectives in Spanish usually follow the noun they describe.
The following rules will help in using Spanish adjectives correctly.
- Many adjectives end in o when referring to a singular masculine noun and a when referring to a singular feminine noun.
- Adjectives that end in an e or a consonant, have the same form for masculine and feminine nouns.
- When referring to a plural noun, adjectives add an s or es to the end.
Examples
| El hombre enojado | The angry man |
| Los hombres enojados | The angry men |
| La mujer enojada | The angry woman |
| Las mujeres enojadas | The angry women |
| La mujer feliz | The happy woman |
| Las mujeres felices | The happy women |
| El hombre feliz | The happy man |
| Los hombres felices | The happy men |
| Tu amiga está cansada. | Your friend (female) is tired. |
| Tu amigo está cansado. | Your friend (male) is tired. |
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A few adjectives precede the noun they modify, such as mucho (much) and poco (few, little). Alguno (some) and ninguno (not any, no) also often precede the noun they modify. When preceding a singular masculine noun, they are shortened to algún and ningún.
Examples
| pocas personas | few people |
| pocos niños | few children |
| mucho trabajo | a lot of work |
| muchas mujeres | many women |
| un gran hombre | a great man |
| una grande mujer | a great woman |
| una taza grande | a big cup |
| el primer piso | the first floor |
| algunas personas | some people |
| ningún hombre | no man |
| ningunos hombres | no men |
The adjective grande means great when it precedes a noun and big when it follows a noun. When preceding a singular, masculine noun, grande is shortened to gran.
Spanish Vocabulary
Here is a list of some very common Spanish adjectives. Since these are very common words, it is a good idea to memorize them.
| agradable | kind, nice |
| alto | tall |
| amable | friendly, nice |
| ancho | wide |
| áspero | rough |
| bajo | low |
| blando | soft |
| brillante | bright |
| bueno | good |
| caliente | hot |
| cansado | tired |
| claro | light (not dark) |
| cómodo | comfortable |
| correcto | right (correct) |
| corto | short, brief |
| delgado | thin |
| difícil | hard (difficult) |
| duro | hard |
| enojado | angry |
| estrecho | narrow |
| fácil | easy |
| feliz | happy |
| frío | cold |
| fuerte | strong, loud |
| grande | big |
| grueso | thick, course |
| hermoso | beautiful |
| incorrecto | wrong |
| interesante | interesting |
| joven | young |
| largo | long |
| lento | slow |
| ligero | light (not heavy) |
| limpio | clean |
| liso | smooth |
| lleno | full |
| malo | bad |
| mojado | wet |
| nuevo | new |
| oscuro | dark |
| pequeño | small |
| pesado | heavy |
| rápido | fast |
| ruidoso | noisy |
| seco | dry |
| sucio | dirty |
| tranquilo | quiet |
| triste | sad |
| vacío | empty |
| viejo | old |
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Spanish Phrases
Here are some useful sentence templates that you can use with adjectives. Learning these along with some common Spanish adjectives will greatly increase your ability to communicate in Spanish. Practice combining these sentence templates with the adjectives included in this lesson to help you remember them.
Note: All questions start with a ¿ and end with a ?.
| Estoy ___. | I am ___. (emotional state, temporary condition) |
| Soy ___. | I am (more permanent attributes) |
| Estoy muy ___. | I am very ___. |
| Estoy demasiado ___. | I am too ___. |
| ¿Estás ___? | Are you ___? (familiar) |
| Es ___. | It is ___. |
| Es muy ___. | It is very ___. |
| Es demasiado ___. | It is too ___. |
| Ella es ___. | She is ___. (more permanent condition) |
| Él está ___. | He is ___. (emotional state, temporary condition) |
| Me siento ___. | I feel ___. |
| Se siente muy ___. | He/She feels very ___. |
| Parece tan ___. | It seems so ___. |
| Parece demasiado ___. | It seems too ___. |
Examples
| Estoy feliz. | I am happy. |
| Estoy muy frío. | I am very cold. (male) |
| Soy vieja. | I am old. (female) |
| Soy demasiado viejo. | I am too old. (male) |
| ¿Estás cansado? | Are you tired? (male) |
| Ella está demasiado ruidosa. | She is too noisy. |
| Él es alto. | He is tall. |
Adjective Flashcards
Here are some flashcards to help you learn the adjectives included in this lesson.
Practice
For each question, write out the sentence using the Spanish word for the adjective in parentheses.
El río es muy ___. (wide)
¿Por qué está tan ___? (sad)
El viento se siente tan ___. (cold)
Encontré una playa ___. (beautiful)
Estoy leyendo un libro ___. (interesting)
Esa casa es muy ___. (old)
La mesa es demasiado ___. (small)
Lucas parece muy ___. (happy)
Quiz
Here is a quiz to help you learn the Spanish adjectives included in this lesson.