Your Guide to Cultural Fluency

In Spanish, the adjective usually comes after the name, while in English it is the other way around: first the adjective and then the noun.

 

Easy examples to understand the position of adjectives in Spanish

The dominant function of adjectives is to specify, differentiate and restrict the meaning of the name to which they refer and separate it from the rest of its class. The standard and most frequent position is after the noun.

The position in which the adjective follows the noun is called the differentiating position. Most of the adjectives of more than two syllables are normally used in a differentiating position.

The most popular adjectives used in this position are those of color, nationality, religion, ideology, and physical qualities.

 

Other examples of adjectives are:

 

Examples of determinative adjectives (adjetivos determiniativos) 

This: este. This car belongs to me.

That: ese. Whose is that cat?

These: estos. What are you into these days?

Those: esos. Luck comes to those who look for it.

All: todos. All you have to do is believe me.

Every: cada (todos). I practise every day.

Each: cada uno. Each individual is different.

Both: ambos. It was both relaxing and exciting.

Either: cualquiera de los dos. She wanted to either go now or in one hour.

Neither: ninguno de los dos. She had neither the breath nor the voice to talk.

Another: otro. Why don’t adopt another baby?

 

Examples of qualifying adjectives (adjetivos calificativos) 

Red: rojo

Pink: rosado

Deep: profundo

Alive: vivo

Shy: tímido

Awake: despierto

Funny: divertido

Fast: rápido

Sweet: dulce

Slow: lento

Vacío: empty

Generous: generoso

Expensive: caro

Easy: fácil

Good: bueno

Bad: malo

Round: redondo

Square: cuadrado

Unpleasant: desagradable

Hard: duro

Soft: suave

Rich: rico

Poor: pobre

 

Saber Examples of quantitative adjectives (adjectivos Cuantitativos)

Less: menos. Ej. En menos de un minute you llegué. –  In less than a minute, I was there.

Little: poco. Ej. Me gusta comer un poco de todo. – I like to eat a little bit of everything.

Some: algo de/un poco de. Ej. Algunas personas disfrutan la soledad. – Some people enjoy solitude.

Enough: suficiente. Había suficiente comida para todos. – There was food enough for all.

 

 

And finally, you already know what’s the biggest secret in Spanish: practice, practice, practice. Exercises are the best way to integrate grammar naturally, and there are tons of free online resources that you can use. So you have no excuse!