Agreement of adjectives

Adjectives in Spanish: what is happening?

• In Spanish, adjectives (words like alto, bajo, delgado) must match the noun.
• They match in gender (masculine / feminine) and number (singular / plural).
• English: the tall boy / the tall girl / the tall boys / the tall girls → “tall” never changes.
• Spanish: el chico alto / la chica alta / los chicos altos / las chicas altas → the adjective changes.

Step 1 – Find the noun and its gender / number

Before you choose the adjective form, do this mini-check:

1. Find the noun you are describing.
2. Ask: is it masculine or feminine?
3. Ask: is it singular or plural?

Typical office / people nouns:

Step 2 – Adjectives that end in -o (alto, bajo, gordo…)

These are the “classic” adjectives. They change in a very regular way.

Same pattern for many physical adjectives:

• bajo, baja, bajos, bajas (short)
• gordo, gorda, gordos, gordas (overweight)
• guapo, guapa, guapos, guapas (good-looking)
• morenos, morena, morenos, morenas (dark-haired / dark-skinned)

Step 3 – Plural: when do I add -s?

For this unit, focus on this very simple rule:

• If the adjective ends in an unaccented vowel (a, e, i, o, u) → add -s.

So from the singular forms:

Later in your course, you will also see plurals with -es (for adjectives that end in a consonant). For now, stay with the basic “add -s to the vowel” rule.

Step 4 – Adjectives that do not change for gender (-e, consonant)

Some very frequent adjectives finish in another letter (not -o).

• For example: elegante, inteligente, interesante.
• These adjectives usually have one form for masculine and feminine.

Plural: add -s if they end in a vowel:

• elegante → elegantes
• inteligente → inteligentes

This is why you see:

• Las mujeres son elegantes.

Step 5 – Typical mistakes to avoid

• Do not mix genders inside one noun phrase.

Correct:

• La chica alta
• Los hombres morenos

Incorrect:

• La chica alto
• Los hombres morena

• Do not forget the plural -s when the noun is plural.

Correct:

• Las clientas están contentas.

Incorrect:

• Las clientas está contenta
• Las clientas están contenta

• Mixed groups (men + women) take the masculine plural.

Examples:

• Pedro y Ana son altos. (not altas)
• Los compañeros son delgados. (may include women)

Step 6 – Position of the adjective: where do I put it?

• In this unit, adjectives normally go after the noun.

Very often in descriptions you also see:

• Ser + adjective → El jefe es simpático.
• Estar + adjective → Hoy está cansado. (later you will study the difference between ser and estar)

Step 7 – A quick mini-algorithm you can use

When you speak or write, you can follow this short process:

1. Say or write the noun + article:
   • Example: la compañera
2. Decide gender and number:
   • la compañera → feminine, singular
3. Choose the base adjective in the dictionary (masculine singular):
   • Example: alto
4. Adapt the ending:
   • Feminine? change -o → -a → alta
   • Plural? add -s if it ends in an unaccented vowel.
5. Check the full group:
   • La compañera alta ✔

Self-check: can you do these three things?

Use this as a short checklist after studying.

1. Match gender
   • Can you change: el jefe simpático → la jefa simpática?
2. Match number
   • Can you change: la secretaria guapa → las secretarias guapas?
3. Combine gender and number
   • Can you change: el técnico bajo → las técnicas bajas?

If you can do these transformations easily, you are ready to use adjectives confidently in conversation.