Adjective Number Agreement

In the previous lesson, you learned that Spanish adjectives must agree with the gender of the noun they describe. In this lesson, you will learn that adjectives must also agree in number — singular or plural.

This means that every Spanish adjective potentially has four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural.

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The Basic Rule: Adding -s or -es

The rule for making adjectives plural mirrors the rule for making nouns plural:

Ending	Plural Rule	Example
Vowel (-o, -a, -e)	Add -s	alto → altos, alta → altas
Consonant	Add -es	fácil → fáciles, español → españoles
-z	Change -z to -ces	feliz → felices

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Four Forms of -o/-a Adjectives

Adjectives that end in -o (masculine) and -a (feminine) have four distinct forms:

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	alto	altos
Feminine	alta	altas

More Examples — All Four Forms

Masculine Sg.	Feminine Sg.	Masculine Pl.	Feminine Pl.	English
pequeño	pequeña	pequeños	pequeñas	small
bonito	bonita	bonitos	bonitas	pretty
delgado	delgada	delgados	delgadas	thin
blanco	blanca	blancos	blancas	white
rojo	roja	rojos	rojas	red
nuevo	nueva	nuevos	nuevas	new
viejo	vieja	viejos	viejas	old

Example Sentences

• El libro es nuevo. (The book is new — masc. sg.)
• La mesa es nueva. (The table is new — fem. sg.)
• Los libros son nuevos. (The books are new — masc. pl.)
• Las mesas son nuevas. (The tables are new — fem. pl.)

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Two Forms: Adjectives Ending in -e

Adjectives ending in -e have only two forms — singular and plural. They do not change for gender.

Singular	Plural	English
grande	grandes	big
inteligente	inteligentes	intelligent
interesante	interesantes	interesting
triste	tristes	sad
amable	amables	kind

Example Sentences

• El parque es grande. (The park is big.)
• Los parques son grandes. (The parks are big.)
• La ciudad es grande. (The city is big.)
• Las ciudades son grandes. (The cities are big.)

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Two Forms: Adjectives Ending in a Consonant

Most adjectives ending in a consonant also have just two forms. Add -es for the plural.

Singular	Plural	English
fácil	fáciles	easy
difícil	difíciles	difficult
joven	jóvenes	young
azul	azules	blue
popular	populares	popular

Accent note: When adding -es to joven, an accent mark appears on the stressed syllable: jóvenes. This is because the stress pattern must be preserved.

Example Sentences