Adjective Agreement in Spanish

In Spanish, adjectives change to match the noun they describe.

For example, alto means “tall,” but its form changes depending on whether you are describing one boy, one girl, several boys, or several girls:

• un chico alto — a tall boy
• una chica alta — a tall girl
• unos chicos altos — some tall boys
• unas chicas altas — some tall girls

This is called adjective agreement. The adjective usually agrees with the noun in both gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

The basic pattern

For adjectives ending in -o, the pattern is:

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	alto	altos
Feminine	alta	altas

Examples:

• un coche pequeño — a small car
• una casa pequeña — a small house
• dos coches pequeños — two small cars
• dos casas pequeñas — two small houses

A useful beginner rule is:

• -o → -a for feminine
• add -s for plural

Adjectives ending in -e

Many adjectives ending in -e use the same form for masculine and feminine.

For example, grande:

• un coche grande — a big car
• una casa grande — a big house
• unos coches grandes — big cars
• unas casas grandes — big houses

The gender does not change the adjective, but the plural still does:

grande → grandes

Other common examples include:

• interesante → interesantes
• inteligente → inteligentes
• amable → amables

Adjectives ending in a consonant

Many adjectives ending in a consonant also use the same form for masculine and feminine.

For example:

• un chico joven — a young boy
• una chica joven — a young girl
• unos chicos jóvenes — young boys
• unas chicas jóvenes — young girls

To make many of these adjectives plural, add -es:

joven → jóvenes

However, not every adjective follows exactly the same pattern, so it is useful to learn unusual forms as you meet them.

Examples

• Ana es mexicana. — Ana is Mexican.
• Luis es mexicano. — Luis is Mexican.
• La casa es pequeña. — The house is small.
• El piso es pequeño. — The apartment is small.
• Los perros son pequeños. — The dogs are small.
• Las calles son estrechas. — The streets are narrow.
• Marta y Ana son estudiantes curiosas. — Marta and Ana are curious students.

What happens with a mixed group?

If an adjective describes a group containing both masculine and feminine nouns or people, Spanish traditionally uses the masculine plural form.

• Pablo y Marta son altos. — Pablo and Marta are tall.
• Mi hermano y mi hermana son españoles. — My brother and sister are Spanish.

For a group containing only feminine nouns or people, use the feminine plural:

• Marta y Ana son altas.
• Mis hermanas son españolas.

Match the noun, not the speaker

The adjective agrees with the noun it describes, not with the person speaking.

For example, a man can say:

• Mi casa es pequeña. — My house is small.

Pequeña is feminine because casa is feminine. The gender of the speaker does not matter.

Similarly:

• Mi coche es pequeño.

Here pequeño is masculine because coche is masculine.

Adjectives with ser

You also need adjective agreement when the adjective comes after ser.

Compare:

• El chico es alto.
• La chica es alta.
• Los chicos son altos.
• Las chicas son altas.

Even though the adjective is separated from the noun by ser, it still agrees with the noun.

Quick rule

Ask two questions about the noun:

1. Is it masculine or feminine?
2. Is it singular or plural?

Then make the adjective match.

chico alto → chica alta → chicos altos → chicas altas

Adjective agreement also works together with Spanish articles such as el, la, los, las, un, and una. See noun plurals for how to make nouns plural.