USES OF ADJECTIVES

Formation of the feminine:-

With adjectives ending in –o, the o becomes –a.

Example: rojo becomes roja.

Other adjectives do not change, except in the following cases:

For adjectives of Nationality, add –a.

Examples: Español becomes española.

Inglés becomes inglesa.

For adjectives ending in -án, -ón, -or, -ín, add –a (except comparatives):

Examples: hablador becomes habladora, talkative, but

la mejor alumna, the best (female) pupil.

Agreement of adjectives:-

Adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number:

Examples: Las cosas interesantes, interesting things.

Los lápices azules, blue pencils.

When the same adjective is used to qualify two or more nouns of different genders, it is used
in the masculine form:

Example: El hombre y la mujer están cansados, the man and the woman are tired.

Comparison of adjectives:-

Comparative: más + adjective.

Superlative: el/la más + adjective.

Examples: hermoso/a, beautiful;

más hermoso/a, most beautiful;
el/la más hermoso/a, the most beautiful.

Note: if the superlative follows the noun, the article is omitted (unlike French):

Example: Los libros más divertidos que he leído, the most amusing books I’ve read.

The Absolute Superlative:-

When there is no comparison, the superlative is expressed by muy + adjective (or by adding
–ísimo/a to the stem of the adjective):

Examples: Esta historia es muy triste, this story is very sad.

Esta historia es interesantísima, this story is very interesting.

Note: there are spelling changes with certain –ísimo/a superlatives:

Examples: noble – nobilísimo/a.

rico/a – riquísimo/a.

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After a superlative, ‘in’ is translated by de:

Example: Es la chica más lista de la clase, She is the brightest pupil in the class.

Irregular Comparisons:-

Grande Big Mayor Biggest El/la mayor Biggest

Pequeño/a Small Menor Smaller El/la menor Smallest
Bueno Good Mejor Better El/la mejor Best
Malo Bad Peor Worse El/la peor Worst

However, note that (el/la) menor is less frequently used than (el/la) más pequeño/a in the
sense of ‘smaller, smallest’. When referring to children, either can be used to mean ‘younger,
youngest’, but when referring to adults, (el/la) más joven is more usual.

Position of adjectives:-

Adjectives usually follow the noun:

Example: un perro negro, a black dog.

La Casa Blanca, the White House.

However, the following come before the noun: buen/beuna, mal/mala and gran/grande
(when not referring to size):

Examples: Una buena cocinera, a good cook.

Un gran escritor, a great writer, but:
Un edificio grande, a big, tall building.

An adjective which has no distinguishing force usually comes before the noun:

Examples: la blanca nieve, the white snow; la roja sangre, the red blood.

The following adjectives have different meanings according to whether they are place
before or after the noun; shorter forms (apocopation) occur with several adjectives:

Before Noun After Noun

Buen/buena good Bueno/buena worthy
Cierto/cierta a certain Cierto/cierta sure, true
Gran great Grande big, large
Nuevo/nueva fresh Nuevo/nueva new
Pobre poor (expressing pity) Pobre poor (without money)

Comparisons of equality and inequality:-

TAN … COMO (as … as)

Examples: Es tan perezoso como su hermano; he’s as lazy as his brother.

TANTO/A/OS/AS … COMO (so/as much, many … as)

Examples: No tengo tantos libros como mi hermano, I haven’t got as many books as
my brother.

MÁS/MENOS … QUE (more/less … than)

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Examples: Bebe más cerveza que yo, he drinks more beer than I (do).
Soy menos listo que él, I’m not as intelligent as he (is).

When the second term of comparison is a clause, del / de la / de los / de las + que is used,
agreeing with the noun:

Example: Tiene más dinero del que dice, he has more money that he says.

If there is no noun – or an adjective is used as a point of comparison – then de lo que is

used:

Examples: Tiene más de lo que dice, he has more than he says.

Es menos lista de lo que creía él, she’s not as bright as he thought.

NOTE: after más or menos before a number (when no comparison is made), ‘than’ is
translated by de, except in the negative when que is used:

Examples: Juan tiene más de 2, John has more than 2.

Juan no tiene más que 2, John has no more than 2.

CUANTO MÁS/MENOS … (TANTO) MÁS/MENOS (the more/less … the more/less)

Examples: Cuanto más dinero tiene, (tanto) más dinero gasta,

The more money he has, the more money he spends.
Cuanto más le doy, ella (tanto) menos me da,
The more I give her, the less she gives me.
Cuanto más tienen, (tanto) más quieren,
The more they have, the more they want.

CADA VEZ MÁS/MENOS (more and more / less and less)

Example: Se hace cada vez más frío, it’s getting colder and colder.

Apocopation of adjectives:-

Uno, primero, tercero, alguno, ninguno, bueno, malo drop the ending –o when they
immediately precede a masculine singular noun:

Examples: El tercer hombre, the third man.

No tiene ningún amigo, he doesn’t have any friends.

Grande drops the –de and cualquiera drops the –a before any singular noun, masculine or
feminine:

Examples: Un gran actor, a great actor.

Cualquier mujer te lo dirá, any woman will tell you.

Ciento drops the –to before a masculine or singular noun:

Examples: Cien hombres, 100 men; cien mujeres, 100 women.

Santo drops the –to before a proper noun, except before Domingo and Tomás:

Examples: San Pedro, Saint Peter; Santo Tomás, Saint Thomas.