how to make adjectives agree with the noun they modify

How to make adjectives agree with the noun they modify

(Click anywhere to progress through the slideshow.)

In order to make an adjective agree with the noun it modifies,

you must know whether the noun is masculine or feminine. Let’s

look at some words and identify whether they are masculine or

feminine…

What about the word “puerta”? Is it masculine or feminine?

feminine!That’s right… it’s

masculine!That’s right… it’s

What about the word “libro”? Is it masculine or feminine?

What about the word “silla”? Is it masculine or feminine?

feminine!That’s right… it’s

feminine!That’s right… it’s

What about the word “ventana”? Is it masculine or feminine?

What about the word “bolígrafo”? Is it masculine or feminine?

masculine!That’s right… it’s

masculine!That’s right… it’s

What about the word “carro”? Is it masculine or feminine?

OK – we’ve practiced identifying masculine and feminine nouns.

But we also need to know whether the noun is singular or plural. Let’s do some practice…

What about the word “puerta”? Is it singular or plural?

singular!That’s right… it’s

plural!That’s right… it’s

What about the word “libros”? Is it singular or plural?

What about the word “sillas”? Is it singular or plural?

plural!That’s right… it’s

singular!That’s right… it’s

What about the word “ventana”? Is it singular or plural?

What about the word “bolígrafo”? Is it singular or plural?

singular!That’s right… it’s

plural!That’s right… it’s

What about the word “carros”? Is it singular or plural?

Now – here’s how to make the adjective agree with the noun: if you have a masculine noun like “libro” and your adjective ends in “-o”, then the adjective stays the same. For example, we’ll use the

adjective “rojo” (red).un libro rojo

Notice that the adjective comes AFTER the noun – in most cases adjectives will come after the noun in

Spanish.

But if the noun is feminine and the adjective ends in “-o”, you

must change the “-o” to an-a”. See how the adjective “rojo”

changes to “roja” here:

una puerta roja

Let’s compare the previous two slides. Note how the adjective

that ends in “-o” stays the same with a masculine noun, but

changes to “-a” with a feminine noun:

un libro rojo

una puerta roja

Now, some adjectives, like “verde” (green), end in “-e”. These are easy to deal with

because they will stay the same whether the noun is masculine or

feminine. Observe:un libro verde

una puerta verde

Note that the adjective “verde” stays the same regardless of whether the noun is

masculine or feminine.

Let’s observe these examples using another adjective ending in

“-e”:

un alumno inteligente

una alumna inteligente

Note that the adjective “inteligente” stays the same regardless of whether

the noun is masculine or feminine.

Let’s do some practice with masculine and feminine

adjectives…

How would you change the adjective “anaranjado” to go with

the noun “silla”?anaranjada!That’s right… it’s

stays the same!That’s right… it

How would you change the adjective “interesante” to go with

the noun “ventana”?

How would you change the adjective “importante” to go with

the noun “perro”?stays the same!That’s right… it

stays the same!That’s right… it

How would you change the adjective “grande” to go with the

noun “ventana”?

How would you change the adjective “mojado” to go with the

noun “silla”?mojada!That’s right… it’s

alta!That’s right… it’s

How would you change the adjective “alto” to go with the

noun “alumna”?

Now we also need to look at whether the noun is singular or

plural. If the noun is singular, the adjective must be singular also. If the noun is plural, the adjective

must also be plural. Observe and compare the following:

SINGULAR: un libro rojo

PLURAL: unos libros rojos

Notice in the plural example how the adjective has also been made plural.

Making adjectives plural is easy – just remember this simple rule: If the adjective ends in a vowel, you add

an “-s” to make it plural. If the adjective ends in a consonant, you

add an “-es” to make it plural. Observe and compare the following:

Adjective ending in vowel: unos libros rojos

Adjective ending in consonant: unos libros azules

Notice how “rojo” was changed to “rojos”, but “azul” was changed to “azules”.

Let’s do some practice with making adjectives plural…

How would you make the adjective “amarillo” (yellow)

plural?amarillos!That’s right… it’s

grises!That’s right… it’s

How would you make the adjective “gris” (grey) plural?

How would you make the adjective “interesante”

(interesting) plural?interesantes!That’s right… it’s

militares!That’s right… it’s

How would you make the adjective “militar” (military) plural?

VOILA!

See how easy that was? Now try some on your

own – click the button to do a practice quiz.

PracticeQuiz

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