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Lesson 10: Describing People and Things – Adjective Agreement in Spanish

🎯 Goal

Learn how to use Spanish adjectives to describe nouns, and understand how adjectives must match in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the nouns they describe.

🧠 Why You Need This

Without adjectives, your sentences are flat. You can say “I have a dog” — but wouldn’t it be better to say “I have a big, friendly dog”? Spanish adjectives are powerful, but they follow rules that English doesn’t — and this lesson helps you master them.

✍️ Lesson 10: Describing People and Things – Adjective Agreement in Spanish

🧱 1. What Is an Adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

In English:

  • A tall man

  • A red car

  • An interesting book

In Spanish, adjectives come after the noun (usually), and they must agree with the noun in gender and number.

🔧 2. Gender Agreement (Masculine / Feminine)

Gender Noun + Adjective Example
Masculine El chico alto – The tall boy
Feminine La chica alta – The tall girl

🧠 Most masculine adjectives end in –o, and the feminine version ends in –a.

  • guapo → guapa

  • simpático → simpática

  • bonito → bonita

  • alto → alta

🔁 3. Number Agreement (Singular / Plural)

Just like gender, Spanish adjectives must also match plural nouns.

Singular Plural
El chico alto Los chicos altos
La chica simpática Las chicas simpáticas

🧠 Add –s if the adjective ends in a vowel, or –es if it ends in a consonant.

  • grande → grandes

  • azul → azules

🌈 4. Adjectives That Don't Change

Some adjectives don’t follow the o/a pattern — especially those that end in –e or consonants.

  • inteligente → stays the same for masculine and feminine

    • El chico inteligente

    • La chica inteligente

  • joven (young), fácil (easy), gris (gray), feliz (happy)

You still change for plural:

  • inteligente → inteligentes

  • joven → jóvenes

📚 5. Common Adjectives to Know

Spanish English
alto / alta tall
bajo / baja short
simpático/a nice/friendly
feo / fea ugly
bonito/a pretty
grande big
pequeño/a small
joven young
viejo/a old
inteligente smart
trabajador/a hardworking
perezoso/a lazy

📝 6. Practice Time

✏️ Part A: Make these match gender and number

  1. El chico + simpático → _____________________

  2. Las chicas + inteligente → _____________________

  3. La casa + grande → _____________________

  4. Los estudiantes + joven → _____________________

  5. El profesor + trabajador → _____________________

✏️ Part B: Translate into Spanish

  1. The tall girl

  2. The small houses

  3. The hardworking boys

  4. A smart student

  5. The old books

⚠️ 7. Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • ❌ Saying el chico simpática (gender mismatch)

  • ❌ Forgetting to make the adjective plural (los chicos alto)

  • ❌ Using English word order (bonita chica instead of chica bonita)

🧠 REMEMBER: In Spanish, the noun comes first, then the adjective:
➡️ “the red car” = el coche rojo

🎯 Final Tip:

Adjectives give personality to your Spanish. Once you know how to match them correctly, you can describe people, places, and your feelings with clarity and confidence.

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