HOW TO USE SPANISH ADJECTIVES

In Spanish, adjectives provide additional information about the noun, usually describing qualities, characteristics, or properties of the noun.

For example, calles estrechas (narrow streets), personas discretas (discreet people) or flores rojas (red flowers) are all adjectives, as they describe what the streets, people, and flowers are like.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES

There are two broad categories of adjectives in Spanish, descriptive and determinative adjectives. The first one primarily describes qualities or properties of a noun and the second specifies or limits the noun they accompany.

Descriptive Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives (adjetivos calificativos) are mainly used to express qualities or properties of a noun, such as personality traits, emotions, colors, experiences, feelings, reactions, etc.

Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.

Meaning, adjectives will change their form based on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular, or plural.

NOTE || Some adjectives (referred to above as “invariable in gender”) – those ending in -e or in a consonant – do not change based on gender and usually remain the same irrespective of whether the noun referenced is masculine or feminine. They do however change in number.

Examples:

Determinative Adjectives

Determinative adjectives (adjetivos determinativos) limit or specify the noun they accompany, often answering questions such as “Which one?” and “How many?”. 

These adjectives narrow down or provide more information on the noun’s identity or quantity, meaning, they help clarify which noun is being referred to, its position or number.

Determinative adjectives are divided into several subcategories, namely:

• Demonstratives: Words such as este/a (this), ese/a (that), and aquel/aquella (that over there) specify the location or proximity of a noun.

• Possessives: Words such as mi (my), tu (your), su (his/her), nuestro/a (our) express ownership or relation.

• Indefinite: Words such as algunos/as (some), ciertas/ciertos (certain), ninguno/a (none) refer to non-specific nouns.

• Numerals: Words such as uno (one), dos (two), primero (first), segundo (second), indicate the number or order.

In terms of placement in a sentence or phrase structure, determinative adjectives often precede the noun, as they provide clarification on which specific noun is being discussed. 

Examples:

ADJECTIVE PLACEMENT

Unlike in English where adjectives almost always come before the noun, in Spanish, adjectives can be placed either before or after the noun, depending on the meaning or the speaker’s intent.

Generally speaking though, descriptive adjectives normally follow the noun while determinative adjectives usually precede the noun. 

Two general rules determine adjective placement in a given phrase:

Adjectives after the noun

This would be the most common placement for adjectives in Spanish, in particular for descriptive adjectives — that simply provide descriptive information on the noun they describe or modify.

Adjectives before the noun

Although this placement is less common and is used for emphasis or poetic/stylistic purposes, some descriptive adjectives can appear before the noun they modify. This adjective placement often adds a subjective or emotional spin to the noun it is referencing.

FOR INSTANCE ||  Play sus grandes ojos (his/her big eyes), when used in this particular order is more figurative and has a more poetic tone to it versus the reverse (sus ojos grandes) which is just literal and descriptive of the size of the eyes. 

Other descriptive adjectives can completely change the meaning depending on the position relative to the noun.

FOR INSTANCE || Play un hombre pobre (poor man), literally references a man lacking in resources while the reverse, Play un pobre hombre (poor man), refers to a pitiful man or someone deserving of pity.

As for determinative adjectives, they are generally placed before the noun.

ADJECTIVES WITH PRONOUNS

In certain cases, adjectives in Spanish can also modify pronouns. This use is far less common than with nouns and is more restrictive, especially with personal pronouns.

However, adjectives can modify indefinite pronouns such as algo (something), nada (nothing), todo (everything), etc. 

Adjective with pronoun constructions allows one to describe abstract ideas or unknown things without the need for a specific noun.

When adjectives modify indefinite pronouns, they follow the pronoun and must necessarily agree in number and gender as well.

Examples:

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