Document Code FM-STL-013

Saint Louis University Revision No. 01

School of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts Effectivity June 07, 2021
Page 1 of 3

Placement of Adjectives: NOUN + ADJECTIVE

Explain
In Spanish, most adjectives come after the noun they modify.
Ejemplos:
La pelota roja the red ball
La casa antigua the old house
Los carros rapidos the fast cars

Adjectives with the Verbs Ser and Estar

The two most common verbs you will use to conjoin nouns and adjectives are ser (to be
- a permanent state) and estar (to be - a temporary state).
Ejemplos:
El pasilio es estrecho. The hallway is narrow.
Los abrogos son gruesas. The coats are thick.
Estoy cansado I am tired.
Ellas estan emocionadas. They are excited.

Common Adjectives

Spanish is an incredibly descriptive language and so it would be impossible to

cover all of the adjectives in the Spanish language in just one post. However, here are
some of the most common adjectives that will help you make simple descriptions.

Some adjectives that describe physical qualities and appearance:

flaco-skinny esbelto- slender alto/a-tall
fuerte-strong bajo/a-short
debil- weak joven-young
bonita/o-pretty viejo/a-old
hermoso/a- beautiful guapo/a-handsome/good-looking
gordo/a-fat feo/a- ugly
delgado/a-thin pequeno- small

Some adjectives that describe personality/characteristic:

simpatico/a – nice
antipatico/a- unfriendly
inteligente- intelligent
tonto/a- stupid
honesto/a – honest
organizado/a- organized
leal-loyal
carinoso/a- affectionate
hablador/a-talkative
ambicioso/a- ambitious
perezoso/a - lazy
generosp/a- generous
serio/a- serious
extrovertido/a- extroverted
introvertido/a- introverted
fiel- faithful
mimiso/a- sweet
agradable-agreeable
 Document Code FM-STL-013
Saint Louis University Revision No. 01
School of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts Effectivity June 07, 2021
Page 2 of 3

Some adjectives that describe feelings/ temporary state:

cansado/a- tired avergonizado/a- embarrassed
triste- sad ansioso/a- anxious
content/a- happy preocupado- worried
enfermo/a- sick enamorado/a- inlove
frustrado/a- frustrated timido/a- shy

Some adjectives that describe situations/events/places/things

facil- easy nuevo/a- new
dificil- difficult viejo- old
divertido/a- fun caro/a- expensive
aburrido- boring barato/a- cheap
complicado/a- complicated limpio- clean
sencillo/a- simple sucio- di

Now that you have a basic overview of adjectives in Spanish, you are all prepared
to describe everything around you!

Here are additional adjectives that describe character and physical attributes.
Which adjectives best describe you? (Just answer this by yourself.)

CARACTER: Intelligente (intelligent), trabajador (industrious), vagola (lazy), amiable (

kind), amigable (friendly), leal (loyal), fiel (faithful),traidor/a (traitor), sincere/a (sincere),
mentioso/a (liar), simpatico/a (pleasant), antipatiko/a (unpleasant), simple (simple),
conservador/a (conservative), con initativo propia (aggressive), carinioso/a
(affectionate), mimosa/a ( sweet), hablador/a (talkative), callado/a (silent), tranquilola
(calm), nervioso/a (nervous), buena persona (good person), mala persona (bad person),
deportista (sports-minded), creative/a (creative), dinamico/a (dynamic), urtero/a
(“jologs”), cursi (corny), celosa (jealous), alegre (happy), triste (sad), generoso/a
(generous), tacano/a (stingy)

DESCRIPCION FISICAL: fuerte (strong), alto (tall), flaco (thin), feo (ugly), atractivo
(attractive), promedio (average), guapa/Hermosa (beautiful), rubio(blond), gordo (fat),
lindo (lovely), rechoncho (plump), bonita(pretty), bajo (short), dalgado (slim), pequeno
(small), musculoso (muscular), con sobrepeso (overweight), poco atractico (plain),
esbelto (slender), joven (young), Viejo (old), obeso (obese)

Ejemplo:
Mi prima Alexandra es guapa, alta, gordita y joven. (My cousin Alexandra is
beautiful,tall, chubby and young.)

Mi novio es gordito, no es ni alto ni bajo, no es ni guapo ni feo, no es joven ni

mayor.( My boyfriend is chubby, neither tall nor short, neither handsome nor ugly, neither
young or old.)
 Document Code FM-STL-013
Saint Louis University Revision No. 01
School of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts Effectivity June 07, 2021
Page 3 of 3