Adjectives in Spanish act in the same way they do in English - namely they "modify" or describe a noun, for example the yellow bird or the big house or the smart boy.
The main difference in Spanish is that the adjective needs to agree with the noun in "number" AND "gender" (see gender for more). What this means in practical terms is that there are two forms for each adjective in Spanish.
It is easy to change an adjective to make it male or female. Just change the "o" or "a" at the end of the word. There are some adjectives that do not end in either "o" or "a". If you find one of these (like "grande" - "big"), don't worry because you don't have to change anything (unless you need to make it plural or singular). One more thing - notice how the adjective goes AFTER the noun in Spanish (in English it goes before). I know, it sounds strange at first but you'll get used to it.
For example:
|
MALE
|
FEMALE
|
el caro rojo
(the red car)
|
la puerta roja
(the red door)
|
los caros rojos
(the red doors)
(notice both the noun and adjective change)
|
las puertas rojas
the red doors
|
|
el vaso pequeño (the small glass)
|
la tienda vacia (the empty store)
|
|
los vasos pequeños (the small glasses)
|
las tiendas vacias (the empty stores)
|
There are times when the adjective in Spanish goes before, but when this happens it is not a general description like "the door that is red". When the adjective is before it means you are talking about a specific thing. El lago grande (the big lake, in a general sense) is NOT the same as "el gran lago" (this refers to a specific lake and is used like a nickname "I was up on the big lake the other day...")
