Position of adjectives
In Spanish, unlike in English, most adjectiveUsed to describe nouns and must agree with the nouns they are describing. come after the nounThe name of a thing such as an object, a place or a person. Nouns are often described as naming words. they are describing, eg una casa grande (a big house), un libro aburrido (a boring book).
Using adjectives before the noun
Some adjectives can go before the noun they are describing but they still have to agree, eg la segunda película (the second film), los primeros días (the first days). Common adjectives that usually come before the noun include poco, mucho, próximo, último, alguno, ninguno, primero, segundo and tercero.
Some adjectives are shortened when they come in front of a masculineAll nouns in French and Spanish are either masculine or feminine.singularRefers to only one object or person. noun:
bueno (good) → buen eg es un buen colegio
malo (bad) → mal eg hace mal tiempo
primero (first) → primer eg es el primer día
tercero (third) → tercer eg es mi tercer examen del día
alguno (some, any) → algún eg prefiero hacer algún deporte*
ninguno (none) → ningún eg no tengo ningún libro*
*Remember to add an accent on algún and ningún.
Question
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the adjective.
- Hizo _________ (bueno) tiempo ayer.
- Tengo ________ (malo) suerte.
- El rey es un ________ (grande) hombre.
- No hay _________ (ninguno) tiendas.
- Hizo buen tiempo ayer (It was good weather yesterday). The adjective bueno is shortened to buen in front of the masculine singular noun tiempo.
- Tengo mala suerte (I have bad luck). The adjective mala agrees with the feminine singular noun suerte.
- El rey es un gran hombre (The king is a great man). The adjective grande is shortened to gran in front of the masculine singular noun hombre.
- No hay ningunas tiendas (There aren't any shops). The adjective ningunas agrees with the feminine plural noun tiendas.
