APUNTES - How to use adjectives

Realidades 2 – Para empezar (in order to begin)
Los APUNTES SOBRE los adjetivos de la página 3

Alto/a (altos, altas)…
When do we use which form? We match the form to the noun’s…

• GENDER (masculine/feminine) = Género
• NUMBER (singular / plural) = Número
Matching these is called Noun/Adjective Agreement


El muchacho es alto, (masculine & singular)
(m/s) (m/s)
Los jóvenes son altos (masculine & plural)
La chica es alta, (feminine & singular)
Las señoras son altas. (feminine & plural)

Sing. Plurals
Alto Altos = Masculine
Alta Altas = Feminine

Word Order with Adjectives and Nouns:
Usually we IDENTIFY the NOUN first in Spanish and
THEN add the descriptors (adjectives) AFTER THE NOUN.

Mi AMIGO trabajador y sociable es un ESTUDIANTE bueno.

With a few adjectives there is a slight change in the meaning if we change the order:
Un viejo amigo A friend of long-standing (my old friend)
Un amigo viejo A friend who happens to be up in years.

A more polite way to say the latter: “Un amigo ya grande”. = jerga (slang)


Adjectives from this lesson:
Alto/a tall
(Amable) (Kind)
Atrevido/a daring, bold, risk-taker
Bajo/a short
Desordenado/a messy, disorderly, (dis)organized
Estudioso/a Studious,
(Aplicado/a) (Studious, hard working, applies oneself)
Gracioso/a funny, amusing, clever, witty
(Cómico/a) funny – jokester
Guapo/a good-looking, attractive
Impaciente Impatient
Inteligente (¡ojo! =L) Intelligent
Ordenado Neat, Orderly, organized, tidy
(Perezoso/a) (Lazy)
Reservado/a Shy, quiet, reserved
(Tímido/a) Shy, timid
Sociable Social, outgoing
(Extrovertido/a)(Extroverted, outgoing)
(Trabajador/a) (Hard-working)
Viejo/a Old