Grammar – adjectives, agreement and position

What you'll learn

This revision guide covers everything you need to know about Spanish adjectives for CIE IGCSE Spanish. You'll master how adjectives agree with nouns in gender and number, where to position them in sentences, and which adjectives shorten before nouns. These grammar points are tested across all exam papers, particularly in writing and translation tasks.

Key terms and definitions

Adjective — a word that describes or gives more information about a noun (e.g. grande, interesante, azul)

Gender agreement — the rule that adjectives must match the masculine or feminine gender of the noun they describe

Number agreement — the rule that adjectives must match whether the noun is singular or plural

Invariable adjective — an adjective that does not change form regardless of the gender or number of the noun (e.g. rosa, naranja)

Apocopation — the shortening of certain adjectives when placed before a masculine singular noun (e.g. bueno becomes buen)

Predicative adjective — an adjective that comes after verbs like ser, estar, parecer and describes the subject

Attributive adjective — an adjective placed directly next to the noun it modifies

Comparative adjective — an adjective used to compare two or more things (e.g. más grande, mejor)

Core concepts

Basic adjective agreement rules

Spanish adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in both gender and number. This is fundamental to achieving accuracy marks in CIE IGCSE exams.

Masculine singular: Most adjectives end in -o

• el chico alto (the tall boy)
• un libro interesante (an interesting book)

Feminine singular: Change -o to -a

• la chica alta (the tall girl)
• una casa blanca (a white house)

Masculine plural: Change -o to -os

• los chicos altos (the tall boys)
• los libros interesantes (the interesting books)

Feminine plural: Change -o to -as or add -s to other endings

• las chicas altas (the tall girls)
• las casas blancas (the white houses)

Adjectives ending in -e or most consonants remain the same for both masculine and feminine forms:

• el chico inteligente / la chica inteligente
• el examen fácil / la pregunta fácil

For plural forms, add -s if the adjective ends in a vowel, or -es if it ends in a consonant:

• inteligente → inteligentes
• fácil → fáciles
• joven → jóvenes

Adjectives of nationality and region

Adjectives of nationality follow specific patterns that frequently appear in IGCSE exam papers.

Ending in -o: Follow standard agreement rules

• mexicano/mexicana/mexicanos/mexicanas
• argentino/argentina/argentinos/argentinas

Ending in a consonant: Add -a for feminine forms

• español/española/españoles/españolas
• inglés/inglesa/ingleses/inglesas

Ending in -e or -í: Remain invariable for gender

• canadiense/canadienses
• marroquí/marroquíes

Ending in -a: Usually invariable for gender

• belga/belgas
• nicaragüense/nicaragüenses

Remember that nationalities are written with lowercase letters in Spanish, unlike English.

Position of adjectives

Most Spanish adjectives follow the noun they describe, but certain adjectives commonly precede the noun. This affects meaning and is tested in translation and writing tasks.

Adjectives that typically follow the noun:

• Colour: la casa blanca, los ojos azules
• Shape: una mesa redonda
• Nationality: comida italiana, profesores ingleses
• Religion: la iglesia católica
• Technical/scientific terms: energía solar, métodos científicos

Adjectives that typically precede the noun:

• bueno/a (good)
• malo/a (bad)
• grande (big/great)
• pequeño/a (small)
• joven (young)
• viejo/a (old)
• Ordinal numbers: primer, segundo, tercer
• Quantity: mucho, poco, bastante

Examples:

• un buen amigo (a good friend)
• una pequeña ciudad (a small town)
• mi primer día (my first day)

Adjectives that change meaning with position

Several common adjectives change meaning depending on whether they appear before or after the noun. This is a sophisticated feature that demonstrates high-level understanding in exams.

Grande:

• Before noun: great (referring to quality)
  • un gran hombre (a great man)
• After noun: big/large (referring to size)
  • un hombre grande (a big man)

Viejo:

• Before noun: old/longstanding (relationship)
  • un viejo amigo (an old friend - known for a long time)
• After noun: old (age)
  • un amigo viejo (an old/elderly friend)

Pobre:

• Before noun: poor (unfortunate/pitiful)
  • el pobre chico (the poor boy - unfortunate)
• After noun: poor (without money)
  • el chico pobre (the poor boy - not wealthy)

Nuevo:

• Before noun: another/different
  • un nuevo coche (a new/different car - new to the owner)
• After noun: brand new
  • un coche nuevo (a brand new car)

Shortened adjectives (apocopation)

Certain adjectives shorten when placed before masculine singular nouns. This appears regularly in IGCSE reading and listening texts.

Bueno → buen

• un buen profesor (a good teacher)
• BUT: una buena profesora, buenos profesores

Malo → mal

• un mal día (a bad day)
• BUT: una mala idea, malos resultados

Primero → primer

• el primer año (the first year)
• BUT: la primera vez, los primeros días

Tercero → tercer

• el tercer piso (the third floor)
• BUT: la tercera semana

Grande → gran (before both masculine and feminine singular nouns)

• un gran país (a great country)
• una gran persona (a great person)
• BUT: grandes ciudades (plural - no shortening)

Santo → San (before male saints' names, except those beginning with Do- or To-)

• San Pedro, San Juan
• BUT: Santo Domingo, Santo Tomás, Santa Teresa

Alguno → algún and ninguno → ningún

• algún problema (some problem)
• ningún libro (no book)

Invariable adjectives

Some adjectives never change form, regardless of the gender or number of the noun. These are less common but do appear in IGCSE materials.

Colour adjectives that are nouns in origin:

• rosa (pink): la falda rosa, los vestidos rosa
• naranja (orange): la camisa naranja, los zapatos naranja
• violeta (violet): el jersey violeta, las flores violeta

Compound colour adjectives:

• azul marino (navy blue): los pantalones azul marino
• verde claro (light green): las paredes verde claro
• rojo oscuro (dark red): la chaqueta rojo oscuro

Worked examples

Example 1: Translation task

Question: Translate the following sentence into Spanish: "My older sister has a brand new car and a great job in a big Spanish company."

Model answer: Mi hermana mayor tiene un coche nuevo y un gran trabajo en una empresa española grande.

Mark scheme notes:

• hermana mayor (older sister) — adjective correctly placed after noun (1 mark)
• coche nuevo (brand new car) — adjective after noun indicates brand new, not just new to owner (1 mark)
• gran trabajo — shortened form gran before noun, meaning 'great' rather than 'big' (1 mark)
• empresa española grande — nationality adjective after noun, size adjective also after (1 mark)
• All agreements correct: hermana/española feminine, coche nuevo masculine (1 mark)

Example 2: Error correction task

Question: Identify and correct the errors in the following sentences:

a) Mi primer casa era pequeño. b) Londres es una gran ciudad ingles. c) Tengo tres buenos amigas.

Model answers: a) Mi primera casa era pequeña. (Two errors: primera not shortened before feminine noun; pequeño must agree with feminine noun casa)

b) Londres es una gran ciudad inglesa. (One error: nationality adjective inglesa must agree with feminine noun ciudad)

c) Tengo tres buenas amigas. (One error: buenas must be feminine plural to agree with amigas)

Mark scheme notes: 1 mark per corrected error identified and properly explained.

Example 3: Fill in the blanks

Question: Complete the sentences with the correct form of the adjective in brackets:

a) Las ciudades __________ (español) son muy __________ (turístico). b) Es mi __________ (tercero) día en el colegio __________ (nuevo). c) Mis __________ (viejo) amigos viven en casas __________ (grande).

Model answers: a) españolas / turísticas b) tercer / nuevo c) viejos / grandes

Mark scheme notes:

• españolas and turísticas must be feminine plural to agree with ciudades (2 marks)
• tercer shortened before masculine noun día; nuevo follows noun (2 marks)
• viejos before noun means 'longstanding friends'; grandes after noun means 'big houses' (2 marks)

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Forgetting agreement with feminine nouns ending in -o. Words like la mano (hand) and la foto (photo) are feminine, so adjectives must be feminine: la mano derecha, not la mano derecho.

• Incorrect plural formation with adjectives ending in -z. Change -z to -ces in the plural: feliz → felices, capaz → capaces. Students often incorrectly add just -s.

• Placing all adjectives after the noun. While this is the default position, certain common adjectives (bueno, malo, grande, pequeño) typically precede the noun. Using amigo bueno instead of buen amigo sounds unnatural.

• Failing to shorten adjectives before masculine singular nouns. Writing un bueno profesor instead of un buen profesor loses marks. Remember this only applies to masculine singular forms.

• Over-applying the shortening rule. Gran shortens before both masculine and feminine singular nouns, but students sometimes incorrectly write gran días instead of grandes días (plural = no shortening).

• Confusing position-dependent meaning changes. Un gran hombre (a great man) vs un hombre grande (a big/large man) have completely different meanings. Context determines which is appropriate.

Exam technique for Grammar – adjectives, agreement and position

• In translation tasks, check every adjective for correct gender and number agreement. Each agreement error typically loses one accuracy mark. Systematically underline each noun-adjective pair before submitting.

• For gap-fill exercises, identify the gender and number of the noun first, then apply the appropriate adjective ending. If the adjective precedes the noun, check whether shortening applies.

• In writing tasks (emails, letters, articles), use a variety of adjective positions to demonstrate sophistication. Include at least one example of an adjective that precedes the noun and ensure all agreements are correct for maximum accuracy marks.

• When checking your work, create a quick checklist: Does each adjective match its noun in gender and number? Are commonly-preceding adjectives (bueno, malo, primer, etc.) positioned correctly? Have you shortened where required before masculine singular nouns?

Quick revision summary

Spanish adjectives must agree with nouns in gender and number. Most adjectives ending in -o have four forms; those ending in -e or consonants typically have two forms. Most adjectives follow the noun, but certain common adjectives (bueno, malo, grande) usually precede it. Several adjectives shorten before masculine singular nouns: bueno → buen, primero → primer, grande → gran. Some adjectives change meaning depending on position (gran hombre = great man vs hombre grande = big man). Nationality adjectives always follow the noun and require gender agreement.