Adjective Agreement

Foundations

In Spanish, adjectives change their endings to match the gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the noun they modify.

How It Works

Adjective agreement is a fundamental concept in Spanish. It means that the form of an adjective must 'agree' with the noun it is describing in two ways: gender and number.

1. Gender Agreement
Every noun in Spanish is either masculine or feminine. Adjectives that describe them must take on a corresponding masculine or feminine form.

  • Masculine Noun → Masculine Adjective (e.g., el libro rojo - the red book)
  • Feminine Noun → Feminine Adjective (e.g., la mesa roja - the red table)

The definite article (el/la) is a great clue to a noun's gender. For more, see Definite Articles.

2. Number Agreement
Nouns can be singular (one) or plural (more than one). Adjectives must also match the noun's number.

  • Singular Noun → Singular Adjective (e.g., el coche rápido - the fast car)
  • Plural Noun → Plural Adjective (e.g., los coches rápidos - the fast cars)

Adjectives are also made plural to match the noun, usually by adding -s. The plural articles 'los' and 'las' also follow this rule. See Definite Articles for examples.

Putting It All Together
An adjective must agree in BOTH gender and number simultaneously. This results in up to four possible forms for many common adjectives.

Example with 'rojo' (red):

  • Masculine Singular: el libro rojo
  • Feminine Singular: la casa roja
  • Masculine Plural: los libros rojos
  • Feminine Plural: las casas rojas

Note: Not all adjectives change for gender (e.g., 'grande', 'inteligente'), but they all must change for number. This pattern is a conceptual overview; specific adjective ending rules are covered in other lessons.

Examples (6)

  1. el coche rojo

    the red car

    Word by Word: the car red

    'coche' is masculine and singular, so the adjective is 'rojo' (masculine, singular).

  2. la casa roja

    the red house

    Word by Word: the house red

    'casa' is feminine and singular, so the adjective changes to 'roja' (feminine, singular).

  3. los coches rojos

    the red cars

    Word by Word: the cars red

    'coches' is masculine and plural, so the adjective becomes 'rojos' (masculine, plural).

  4. las casas rojas

    the red houses

    Word by Word: the houses red

    'casas' is feminine and plural, so the adjective becomes 'rojas' (feminine, plural).

  5. un problema grande

    a big problem

    Word by Word: a problem big

    Some adjectives, like 'grande', don't change for gender, only for number. Here it's singular to match 'problema'.

  6. unos problemas grandes

    some big problems

    Word by Word: some problems big

    To match the plural noun 'problemas', 'grande' becomes 'grandes'.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting to make the adjective match the noun's gender.

    La flor es bonito.
    La flor es bonita.

    The noun 'flor' (flower) is feminine, so the adjective must also be in its feminine form, 'bonita'.

  • Forgetting to make the adjective plural when the noun is plural.

    Los chicos son alto.
    Los chicos son altos.

    The noun 'chicos' (boys) is plural, so the adjective 'alto' (tall) must also be plural, 'altos'.

How It Connects

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Adjective AgreementFoundations

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