Unit 4.1
Adjective Gender
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Introduction
The adjective [adjetivo] modifies the noun, indicating its characteristics or qualities.
The adjective gender [género de los adjectivos] can be masculine or femenine.
Form
The adjective gender is either masculine or feminine. Adjectives agree in gender with the nouns that complement and always come after or before them.
To create adjectives of the feminine gender from those of the masculine gender, we follow these rules:
- adjectives ending in the vowel –o: we replace –o for –a;
| Masculino | Femenino |
|---|---|
| blanco | blanca |
| guapo | guapa |
| pequeño | pequeña |
- adjectives ending in a consonant: they keep the same form;
| Masculino | Femenino |
|---|---|
| azul | azul |
| cortés | cortés |
| marrón | marrón |
- Adjectives indicate origin (gentilics): we add -a, except for those ending in -a, -e, -í, which are the same in the masculine and feminine.
| Masculino | Femenino |
|---|---|
| alemán | alemana |
| francés | francesa |
| belga | belga |
| costarricense | costarricense |
| marroquí | marroquí |
Example
- Esa niña lleva un jersey blanco;
- El norte está cubierto de nieve blanca;
- La falda de esa mujer es azul;
- Creo que hoy el cielo va a estar azul;
- Un hombre alemán está en la playa con su mujer belga;
- El caballo belga es más rápido que la yegua alemana.
Use
The adjective is used to add information to a noun, describing a noun’s attributes and modifying it, indicating its characteristics or qualities.
Summary
Adjectives indicate characteristics of nouns. In Spanish, adjectives have gender (masculine, feminine) and number (singular, plural). Although most macsuline adjectives end in -o and feminine adjectives end in -a, there are exceptions.
For example:
— «Un perro blanco/Una jirafa amarilla.» = Ending -o for masculine and -a for the feminine;
— «El cielo azul/La bandera azul.» = Equal consonant ending for masculine and femenine;
— «Un chico belga/Una chica belga.» = Endings in -a are the same for masculine and feminine.
Check the contents of the {Form} section. Then move on to the {Example} section, which shows you the usage in context.
Exercises
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