Spanish adjective agreement in four patterns
A Spanish adjective matches its noun in gender and number and normally goes after it: la casa grande, los perros pequeños. Adjectives ending in -o have four forms, those ending in -e or a consonant have two, and nationality adjectives ending in a consonant add -a for the feminine.
Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.
Four patterns, and that is all of them
1. Ends in -o → four forms. The full set.
alto, alta, altos, altas — un chico alto, una chica alta, unos chicos altos, unas chicas altas.
2. Ends in -e → two forms. Gender does nothing; only number changes.
grande / grandes — un carro grande, una casa grande, unas casas grandes. Same with inteligente, interesante, amable, fuerte.
3. Ends in a consonant → two forms. Add -es for the plural.
fácil / fáciles, joven / jóvenes, feliz / felices. Note the z → c again, and the accent appearing on jóvenes to hold the stress in place.
4. Nationalities ending in a consonant → four forms. These break pattern 3 and take an -a.
español / española / españoles / españolas; francés / francesa; alemán / alemana. But peruano is a plain pattern 1 word: peruano, peruana, peruanos, peruanas.
Where the adjective goes
After the noun. This is the default and you can use it every time without ever sounding wrong.
- la casa grande — the big house
- un problema difícil
- las clases divertidas
Some adjectives move in front, and a few change meaning when they do. At this level, two are worth knowing because they are common:
| Before the noun | After the noun |
|---|---|
| un gran hombre — a great man | un hombre grande — a big man |
| mi viejo amigo — a long-standing friend | mi amigo viejo — my elderly friend |
Notice grande shortens to gran directly before any singular noun. So does bueno → buen and malo → mal, but only before masculine singulars: un buen día, un mal momento.
What Peruvians actually reach for
The textbook adjectives are bueno, bonito, interesante. In Lima the everyday ones are slangier and just as regular — they agree exactly like any other adjective.
- bacán — great, cool. Una idea bacán. Two forms only: bacán / bacanes.
- paja — brilliant. Invariable in practice: está paja.
- huachafo — tacky, trying too hard. Full four forms: huachafo, huachafa, huachafos, huachafas.
- pituco — posh, and not usually a compliment.
Learning the agreement patterns on words you will actually say is faster than learning them on alto.
Next
→ Spanish personal pronouns — and why Peru never says vosotros
Topics AdjectivesLima slang
Make it agree
Eight questions on the four ending patterns, where the adjective sits, and the Lima adjectives worth practising on.
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1*unas casas ___* (big)
Answer
grandes — *Grande* ends in -e, so gender does nothing and only the number changes. *Grandas* and *grandos* do not exist.
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2*una chica ___* (tall)
Answer
alta — An adjective ending in -o has the full set of four forms, so it marks both gender and number: *alto, alta, altos, altas*.
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3*unas chicas ___* (French)
Answer
francesas — Nationalities ending in a consonant break the two-form pattern and take an -a: *francés / francesa / franceses / francesas*. *Franceses* is the masculine plural.
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4The plural of *joven* is:
Answer
jóvenes — Consonant ending, so add -es — and the accent appears to hold the stress on *jó*, where it already was. Without it the word would be read *jo-ve-nes*.
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5*un ___ hombre* — a great man
Answer
gran — *Grande* shortens to *gran* directly before a singular noun, and in front of the noun it means *great* rather than *big*. *Un hombre grande* is a big man.
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6*Mi amigo viejo* means:
Answer
my elderly friend — After the noun, *viejo* is about age. Move it in front — *mi viejo amigo* — and it becomes a long-standing friend instead.
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7*Una idea ___* — a cool idea, as they would say it in Lima
Answer
bacán — *Bacán* has two forms only, *bacán* and *bacanes*, so gender does nothing to it. It agrees exactly like any other consonant-ending adjective.
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8Where does a Spanish adjective normally sit?
Answer
after the noun — *la casa grande* — After the noun is the default and never sounds wrong. A few adjectives move in front and change meaning there, but they are a short list.