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Teaching guidelines +/- 15 minutes

Learn how adjectives agree in gender and number with nouns, focusing on endings like alto/a (tall) and altos/as (tall, plural). This lesson covers essential adjective forms to describe physical appearance accurately.
  1. Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun.
  2. Adjectives that end in "-o" change to "-a" for the feminine form.
  3. To form the plural, add an "-s" to adjectives that end in an unstressed vowel.
Terminación (Ending)Singular (Singular)Plural (Plural)
Masculino -o -os 

Alto (Tallo)

El niño es alto. (The boy is tall.)

Altos (Tallos)

Los niños son altos. (The children are tall.)

Femenino -a -as 

Alta (Talla)

La niña es alta. (The girl is tall.)

Altas (Tallas)

Las niñas son altas. (The girls are tall.)

Exercise 1: La concordancia de los adjetivos

Instruction: Fill in the correct word.

Show translation Show answers

pelirrojo, alta, corto, castaños, larga, bajo, morena, guapa

1.
Él tiene el pelo ....
(He has short hair.)
2.
Él se afeita la barba ....
(He shaves his long beard.)
3.
Ella es ..., mide casi dos metros.
(She is tall, she is almost two metres tall.)
4.
Mi hermano es más ... que yo. Yo soy más alta.
(My brother is shorter than me. I am taller.)
5.
La niña es muy ....
(The girl is very pretty.)
6.
Ella tiene el pelo de color ....
(She has red hair.)
7.
La chica ... es muy simpática.
(The dark-haired girl is very nice.)
8.
Mis ojos son ... como mi pelo.
(My eyes are brown like my hair.)

Exercise 2: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose the correct solution

1. La chica es ___ y tiene el pelo largo.

(The girl is ___ and has long hair.)

2. Los hombres son ___ y delgados.

(The men are ___ and thin.)

3. Las mujeres tienen los ojos castaños y son ___.

(The women have brown eyes and are ___.)

4. Mi padre es ___ y está afeitado hoy.

(My father is ___ and is shaved today.)

5. Ellas son ___ y se secan el pelo después de la ducha.

(They are ___ and dry their hair after the shower.)

6. El niño rubio es ___ y tiene el pelo corto.

(The blond boy is ___ and has short hair.)

Understanding Adjective Agreement in Spanish

This lesson focuses on the agreement of adjectives with the nouns they describe, a fundamental concept in Spanish grammar essential for correct sentence structure and clear communication.

What You Will Learn

You will learn how adjectives change their endings to match the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the nouns they modify. This includes practical examples primarily describing physical appearance.

Adjective Endings and Agreement

  • Masculine singular: adjectives ending in -o. Example: alto (tall) in “El niño es alto.”
  • Masculine plural: add -s to the masculine singular form. Example: altos in “Los niños son altos.”
  • Feminine singular: change the ending from -o to -a. Example: alta in “La niña es alta.”
  • Feminine plural: add -s to the feminine singular form. Example: altas in “Las niñas son altas.”

Key Rules

  • Adjectives always agree with the noun’s gender and number.
  • Acommon pattern is adjectives ending in -o for masculine and changing to -a for feminine.
  • Form the plural by adding -s when the adjective ends in an unstressed vowel.

Comparison with English

Unlike English adjectives, which remain the same regardless of gender or number, Spanish adjectives adapt their endings depending on the noun. For example, the English "tall" does not change whether it describes a man, a woman, one person, or many people. In Spanish, however, you say alto, alta, altos, or altas to match the subject’s gender and number.

Useful phrases include:

  • El niño es alto. (The boy is tall.)
  • La niña es alta. (The girl is tall.)
  • Los niños son altos. (The boys are tall.)
  • Las niñas son altas. (The girls are tall.)

Summary

By mastering adjective agreement, you will improve your descriptive abilities and speak more naturally and accurately in Spanish. Practice recognizing and changing adjective endings to fit singular/plural and masculine/feminine nouns.

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