Descriptive Adjectives in Spanish pp. 82-83 (doc. 14) PDF

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Download Descriptive Adjectives in Spanish pp. 82-83 (doc. 14) PDF

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Descriptive Adjectives in Spanish –pp. 82-83 (Doc. 14) An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words (like size, color, shape, quantity, quality...).

Descriptive adjectives: describe the look or appearance of a thing or a person

in detail, and can be divided into different categories such as colors, sizes, sound, taste, touch, shapes, qualities, time, personality and ages.

The following lists provide a few examples of descriptive adjectives in each of their categories: Colors: black, blue, white, green, red Time: related adjectives: each month, every day, Sizes: big, small, large, thin, thick Ages: new, young, old, brand-new, second-hand Shapes: triangular, round, square, circular Sound related adjectives: loud, noisy, quiet, silent Qualities: good, bad, mediocre Touch related adjectives: slippery, sticky Personality: happy, sad, angry, depressed, etc. Taste related adjectives: juicy, sweet, salty, and spicy Note that in Spanish, descriptive adjectives follow the nouns they describe: una ciudad limpia. A clean city.

I.

Adjective Agreement

In Spanish, adjectives must agree with the noun (or pronoun) they describe in gender and in number. This means that if the noun an adjective describes is feminine, the adjective must be feminine, and if that same noun is also plural, the adjective will be feminine AND plural as well. For example, the noun las faldas (the skirts) is plural and feminine, so any adjectives used to describe it must also be plural and feminine. For example: Spanish English las faldas bonitas the pretty skirts las faldas caras the expensive skirts las faldas rayadas the striped skirts E.g

Ana es alta, delgada, bonita y muy simpática. Ella tiene el pelo negro y los ojos cafés. Ann is tall, slim, pretty and very nice. She has black hair and brown eyes.

II.

Forms:

1. Adjectives with form forms. Adjectives that end in o in the masculine singular form have four possible endings, one each for masculine, feminine, singular, and plural. These types of adjectives make up the majority of adjectives in Spanish. o Adjective Endings SingularPlural Masculine o -os Feminine a -as a. La chica es rubia, alta, delgada y muy simpática. She is blond, tall, thin and very nice. b. El chico es rubio, alto, delgado y muy simpático. He is blond, tall, thin and very nice. c. Ellos son rubios, altos, delgados y muy simpáticos. They are blond, tall, thin and very nice. a. Ellas son rubias, altas delgadas y muy simpáticas. They are blond, tall, thin and very nice.

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2. Adjectives with two forms. These adjectives usually end in an –e or -ista, or in a consonant in the singular form; they use the same form for both masculine and feminine forms. To form the plural, add an -s if the singular ends in a vowel or -es if it ends in a consonant. Singular un libro interesante. (an interesting book) Un chico optimista. / una chica optimista una obra difícil. (a difficult work)

Plural dos libros interesantes. (two interesting books) Unos chicos optimistas. dos obras difíciles. (two difficult works)

3. Adjectives with special feminine forms. Adjectives whose masculine singular form ends in this syllable: –or, -ón, -án have feminine forms ending in -a and -as. These adjectives must also agree in number with the noun/ pronoun.  Por ejemplo: trabajador (hard working) Masculine

Masculine plural

Feminine

Feminine plural

trabajado-r (hard working)

trabajador-es

trabajador-a

trabajador-as

comeló-n (big eater)

comelon-es

Comelon-a

Comelon-as

holgazá-n (lazy)

holgazan-es

holgazan-a

holgazan-as

4. What Country are you from? Expressing nationality a. Adjectives of nationality ending in –o are already in masculine form. To change to the feminine form of the adjective, you need to change the –o to –a. To make an adjective plural, simply add “s”. Por ejemplo : paraguayo (Paraguayan)

Masculine

Masculine plural

Feminine

Feminine plural

paraguayo

paraguay-os

paraguay-a

paraguay-as

b. Adjectives of nationality whose masculine singular form ends in a consonant have feminine forms ending in -a and -as. These adjectives must also agree in number with the noun/ pronoun. Por ejemplo: Masculine

Masculine plural

Feminine

Feminine plural

españo-l (Spaniard)

español-es

español-a

español-as

alemá-n (German)

aleman-es

aleman-a

aleman-as

francé-s (French)

frances-es

frances-a

frances-as

c. Adjectives of nationality ending in -e will not change their form no matter what the gender of the noun. In other words, their masculine and feminine forms are the same. Nevertheless, they do change according to whether the noun is singular or plural. To convert the singular form to the plural, simply add an “s” to the ending. Por ejemplo … canadiense (Canadian) Masculine

Masculine plural

Feminine

Feminine plural

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canadiens-e

canadiens-es

canadiens-e

canadiens-es

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III.

Descriptive Adjectives List in English & Spanish

alto/a bajo/a

tall short in height

guapo/a

handsome/good looking

haragan /a

lazy / lazybones

feo/a

ugly pretty

bonito/a

pretty

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dormilón-a

sleepy head

flaco/a

skinny

mal, malo/a

bad

delgado/a

thin/slim

barato/a

cheap

atlético/a

athletic

caro/a

expensive

gordo/a

fat

paciente

patient

grande

big

impaciente

impatient

pequeño/a

small

serio/a

seriou

débil

weak

interesante

interesting

fuerte

strong

ambicioso/a

ambitious

joven

young

honesto/a

honest

viejo/a

old

deshonesto/a dishonest

alegre/feliz

happy

tacaño/a

stingy

triste

sad

generoso/a

generous

nuevo/a

brand new

tímido/a

timid, shy

ser moreno/a

to be brunette

hablador/a

talkative

rubio/a

blond

encantador/a

charming

pelirrojo/a

red-haired

fácil

easy

callado/a

quiet/silent

difícil

difficult

bullicioso/a

loud/noisy

desordenado/a disorganized

pelo corto

short hair

ordenado/a

organized

(tener1) pelo largo long hair

prudente

cautious, prudent

(tener )ojos azules blue eyes

artístico/a

artistic

inteligente

intelligent

sincero/a

sincere

tonto/a

stupid, silly

optimista

optimist/optimistic

divertido/a

fun/funny

realista

realist/realistic

aburrido/a

boring/bored

pesimista

pessimist/pessimistic

simpático/a

nice

limpio/a

clean

antipático/a

mean/rude

sucio/a

dirty

trabajador/a

hard working

1 Use the verb tener when referring to hair and eyes color.

buen, bueno/a good

2 bueno & malo, drop the -o when qualifying and being placed in front of a masculine singular noun.

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