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 pelĂcula (the second film), los primeros dĂas (the first days). Common adjectives that usually come before the noun include poco, mucho, ±č°ůĂłłćľ±łľ´Ç, Ăş±ôłŮľ±łľ´Ç, 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 dĂa
tercero (third) → tercer eg es mi tercer examen del dĂa
alguno (some, any) → ˛ą±ô˛µĂş˛Ô eg prefiero hacer ˛ą±ô˛µĂş˛Ô deporte*
ninguno (none) → ˛Ôľ±˛Ô˛µĂş˛Ô eg no tengo ˛Ôľ±˛Ô˛µĂş˛Ô libro*
*Remember to add an accent on ˛ą±ô˛µĂş˛Ô and ˛Ôľ±˛Ô˛µĂş˛Ô.
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) tienda.
- 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 ninguna tienda (There aren't any shops). NingĂşn, ninguno, ninguna mean 'zero', which is always singular. This is why we don't use plural here. The adjective ninguna agrees with the feminine noun tienda.