In Spanish, adjectives change form to agree with the nouns they modify in terms of gender and number.
a. Gender:
Spanish nouns are classified as either masculine or feminine. Adjectives must agree with the gender of the noun they describe.
- Masculine: Generally, adjectives that end in "-o" are masculine. For example, "alto" (tall) in "el hombre alto" (the tall man).
- Feminine: Adjectives that end in "-a" are typically feminine. For example, "alta" in "la mujer alta" (the tall woman).
Some adjectives have irregular forms or do not follow the typical "-o" and "-a" endings:
- For instance, "feliz" (happy) remains the same for both genders: "el hombre feliz" (the happy man) and "la mujer feliz" (the happy woman).
b. Number:
Adjectives in Spanish also change to reflect whether the noun is singular or plural.
- Singular: The default forms of adjectives are often used when describing a singular noun. For example, "alto" (tall) is used in "el niño alto" (the tall boy).
- Plural: To make an adjective plural, generally, you add "-s" or "-es" to the end of the adjective:
- If the adjective ends in a vowel, just add "-s" (e.g., "altos" for masculine plural and "altas" for feminine plural: "los niños altos" - the tall boys, and "las niñas altas" - the tall girls).
- If the adjective ends in a consonant, you typically add "-es" (e.g., "felices" for both masculine and feminine plural forms: "los hombres felices" - the happy men and "las mujeres felices" - the happy women).
In summary, Spanish adjectives change their endings to agree with the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the nouns they describe.
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