Spanish Adjectives Overview

When we first start learning a new language, we typically start with common greetings, such as hello and good morning, numbers, and a handful of vocabulary words. Soon after this, we start learning adjectives.

Imagine what it would be like to tell a story without any adjectives. Pretty boring, right? Adjectives allow us to convey ideas and stories with more precision and clarity, not to mention more fun.

If you’ve been studying Spanish, you are probably already aware of what a bright and colorful language it is. Spanish is full of great adjectives and learning how to use them correctly will get you one giant step closer to fluency.

In this article, I want to go over how adjectives fit into the Spanish sentence structure as well as share a list of 100 of my favorite Spanish adjectives. Don’t worry, using adjectives in Spanish is fairly straightforward. There are only a few simple rules to follow and I will be breaking them down and providing a few handy tips to help make this as painless as possible. Let’s get started!

What Is An Adjective Exactly?

There is a huge, green puddle boiling in my front yard.

Now we’re getting somewhere. We can imagine this scary puddle and we want to know more. Or maybe we don’t.

This is a somewhat silly example, but it serves a purpose. It allows you to easily see why it is so important to learn adjectives. With adjectives you can tell stories, give directions, and easily point out your tall, smart-looking friend Amilia. Adjectives are awesome.

Rules About Spanish Adjectives

The most obvious difference between English adjectives and Spanish adjectives is that English adjectives typically remain the same no matter what you’re talking about where Spanish adjectives have to match the noun they are assigned to.

English Example:

Notice that the words ‘big’, ‘yellow’ and ‘interesting’ never change form even though they are being used to describe totally different things. Now, look at these same examples in Spanish.

Do you notice the differences? The adjectives change depending on the gender and the quantity of the noun. Let’s talk about that for a minute.

You Have To Know The Noun’s Gender

In order to use adjectives correctly, you have to know the gender of the noun you’re trying to describe. For people and animals, the gender of the noun can sometimes be changed to match the gender of whoever or whatever you’re talking about. For example, a male cat would be ‘un gato’ where a female cat would be ‘una gata’.

For inanimate objects, such as chairs, books, towels, and pans, the gender is based solely on the word itself.

As long as you know the gender of the noun, you can easily change the adjective to match. Most of the more common adjectives end with ‘o’ in their masculine form, making them easy to adjust. For example, here are the words for tall, thin, and clean.

If you are using an adjective that ends with ‘e’ or ‘ista’, then you’re in luck because these words remain the same for both genders. Here are a few examples:

Adjectives that end with a consonant are also gender-neutral. Examples:

Gender-neutral adjectives only change depending on the quantity of the noun you’re describing which leads us to our next adjective rule.

Singular And Plural Adjectives

Just like articles in Spanish, adjectives have to match the quantity of your nouns. This is pretty easy to remember if you’re already used to changing 'el' to 'los' or 'la' to 'las'. Here are a few examples, just in case:

As you can see, the adjective has to match both in gender and in number. If it ends with ‘o’, ‘a’, or ‘e’ simply add an ‘s’ to make it plural. If the adjective ends with a consonant, add ‘es’.

An Important Exception: If the adjective ends with ‘z’, the ‘z’ is changed to a ‘c’ and ‘es’ is added. The most common example of this is the word ‘feliz’ which means happy.

How To Use An Adjective (Or Two) In A Sentence

You have probably already guessed this just from reading all the examples, but let’s talk about it anyway. In Spanish, the adjectives almost always go after the noun.

Remember: ser is used for permanent attributes and estar is for temporary attributes. This is especially important to remember if you’re describing a person, including yourself.

For permanent attributes, such as your ethnicity, eye color, and personality traits, you would use ser. For example, to say that you are blond you would say “Soy rubia(o).” To say that you are Italian you would say, “Soy italiana(o).”

For temporary attributes, such as feelings, you can say, “Estoy emocionada(o) de verte!” which means, “I’m excited to see you!”

Be very mindful of this when you’re talking about other people because the ‘to be’ verb you choose can change the meaning completely. For example:

As you can see, there is a huge difference in the meanings there.

Easy Mix Up Warning!

Be careful when expressing feelings this way. Many temporary states, such as hunger and body temperature, are expressed using ‘tener’ instead of ‘estar’.

For example, if you want to say that you are warm, you would say, “Tengo calor.” If you’re hungry, “Tengo hambre.” Thirsty? Say, “Tengo sed.” This can be used for some emotions as well. That is not the focus of this article, so I won’t go into detail here, but it is worth investigating to save you from some embarrassing situations.

Exceptions To The Rules

Of course, like all language rules, there are always a few exceptions. When it comes to Spanish adjectives, the biggest exceptions to these grammar rules are grande, bueno, and malo.

Grande (Big or Large)

Grande has two forms, grande(s) and gran. Although the words are similar and ‘gran’ seems like it would just be an abbreviation of grande, they do have slightly different usages.

Grande means big or large. Since it ends with ‘e’ we know that it stays the same whether the noun is masculine or feminine. It can be used before or after the noun, although using it before the noun gives it a bit more emphasis.

Gran, on the other hand, is always used before the noun and it means grand or great.

Bueno (Good)

This adjective has three forms:

Warning! Easy Word Mix Up: Buen can easily be (and often is) confused with ‘bien’, but don’t be fooled! Buen, as you now know, is an adjective. Bien is an adverb. Buen is used to describe singular, masculine nouns as ‘good’. Bien is used to describe an action as being done ‘well’ or ‘good’.

Like grande, bueno can be used before or after the noun, but placing it before the noun gives it a bit more emphasis. If you want to place this adjective before a singular, masculine noun then you can use ‘buen’. If the noun is plural then use buenos or buenas depending on the noun in question.

The meaning of bueno can also change depending on the verb it is used with. If used with ser it can mean that a person or thing is fundamentally good, such as a food being good for you. If used with estar it can mean that the noun is good in that moment, such as when you say your cup of coffee is good today.

Extra Side Note: Another interesting thing about ‘bueno’ is that it is often used as a filler word, much like ‘so’ or ‘well’ in English. For example, if you were trying to say, “Well… it was okay.” You could say, “Bueno… está bien.” And if you visit Mexico, you may even hear bueno used as a greeting, but only for answering the phone.

Malo (Bad)

Malo is just like bueno in that it has three forms: malo(s), mala(s), and mal. Following the rules you just learned about bueno, you can probably guess how each form is supposed to be used.

Malo(a) can be placed before or after the noun and must agree with the gender and number of the given noun. Placing it before the noun gives it a bit more emphasis. If you are talking about a singular, masculine noun then you can use mal, otherwise you would use malos or mala(s).

The meaning of this word can also change depending on whether it is used with ser or estar. If you are talking about a person and you want to describe their moral character you would say, “Él es malo.” (He is bad.) or “Ella es una mala persona.” (She is a bad person). If you want to say that someone looks bad, you could say, “Él está malo.” But that isn’t very nice, so don’t say that.

100 Helpful Spanish Adverbs

Don’t Forget About Colors!

Did you notice the exceptions? If you said pink and orange, then you’ve been paying attention! Even though rosa and naranja both end with ‘a’, they do not change when used with a masculine noun. Naranja also lacks a plural form. It is simply naranja, no matter what noun it is used with.

Just like in English, naranja refers both to the color orange and the fruit. Interestingly, naranjo is also a Spanish word, but it is strictly the word for orange trees.

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