Language is the amber in which a thousand precious and subtle thoughts have been safely embedded and preserved.
Richard Chevenix Trench (1807–86)
Chapter 3 -- Modifiers
We often describe things by using words such as big, small, easy, and so on. Words which describe nouns are called adjectives.
There are three types of adjectives, namely factual (which state a fact), judgmental (which give an opinion), and numerical (which give a quantity or number).
In Spanish, adjectives which are factual follow the nouns they modify. As in English, adjectives which are judgmental or numerical precede the nouns they modify.
examples: the white house -->la casa blanca (the house is, in fact, white)
the ugly house -->la fea casa (It is my opinion that the house is ugly)
She has so many ideas. -->Ella tiene tantas ideas. (the expression 'so many' refers to quantity)
He has ten books. -->El tiene diez libros. (there is a number, ten)
The note is on the fifth page. -->La nota está en la quinta página. (fifth is a number)
Nouns cannot be used as adjectives . If a noun is used to describe another noun, the two words are connected by de.
examples : a steel tank = un tanque de fierro a gold ring = un anillo de oro a wooden table = una mesa de madera
The plural forms will be tanques de fierro, anillos de oro, mesas de madera. Notice that that the noun which follows de is not pluralized.
Articles and adjectives must agree in number and gender with the word that is modified.
examples : la casa blanca --> las casas blancas el toro negro --> los toros negros
A few adjectives have a shortened form when they are used BEFORE a masculine, singular noun. Those adjectives are:
| uno, one, a, an | un carro, a cart | ||||
| bueno, good | un buen auto, a good car | ||||
| malo, bad | un mal mes, a bad month | ||||
| primero, first | el primer año, the first year | ||||
| tercero, third | el tercer toro, the third bull | ||||
| alguno, some | algún día, some day | ||||
| ninguno, none | ningún vehículo, no vehicle | ||||
If there is a preposition between the adjective and the noun, then the full form is used.
example: one of the four men uno de los cuatro hombres
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The adjective grande, when used before a singular noun, is shortened to gran.
examples: una gran doña, a great lady un gran evento, a great event
The word for the number 100 is cien, which becomes ciento when used in combination with any other number.
examples : cien dólares (100 dollars) cien muchachas (100 girls) cientodiez libras (110 pounds) cientoveinteycinco dólares ($125)
Other than one hundred, the hundreds are adjectives, and agree with the noun they modify.
examples : doscientas tres flores (203 flowers) cuatrocientos hombres (400 men)
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If an adjective ends with a vowel, its plural is made by adding an s.
examples : fea ---> feas verde --> verdes rojo --> rojos
If an adjective ends with a consonant, its plural is made by adding - es.
examples: critical --> criticales popular --> populares
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The position of an adjective can change the meaning of the word.
example : Lincoln fue un gran presidente. Lincoln was a great president. ( Lincoln is regarded as a very good president.)
El Hulk es un hombre grande . The Hulk is a big man. (He is physically a large person.)
The use of an adjective with the verbs ser or estar might have a different meaning.
example : La fruta es verde. The fruit is green (in color).
La fruta está verde. The fruit is green (not ripe).
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Common adjectives used to express quantity are:
| alguna -as -o -os, some | cada, each or every | |||||
| cuanta -as -o -os, as much | más, more | |||||
| menos, less | mucha -as -o -os, much or many | |||||
| ninguna -as -o -os, none | numerosas -os, numerous | |||||
| poca -as -o -os, little or few | tanta -as -o -os, so much or so many | |||||
| unas -os, some or a few | varias -os, several or various | |||||
As with the nouns, many similarities exist between the two languages, and a summary follows.
| English ending | Spanish ending | examples | ||||||
| -able | -able | abominable, deplorable, perdonable | ||||||
| -al | -al | final, total, usual | ||||||
| -an | -ana, -ano | americano, colombiana, peruano | ||||||
| -ant | -ante | importante, ignorante | ||||||
| -ed | -ado, ido | importado, complicado, unido | ||||||
| -ent | -ente |
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| -enta, ento | contento | |||||||
| -ible | -ible | comprensible, imposible, permisible | ||||||
| -ical | -ica, ico | lógico, económico | ||||||
| -ic | esotérico, público | |||||||
| -ive | -iva, ivo | deportivo, depresiva, instructivo | ||||||
| -ous | -osa, -oso | ambicioso, deliciosa, famoso | ||||||
| -ure | -ura, -uro | madura, impuro | ||||||
All about the - ly forms
Words which modify verbs are called adverbs. In Spanish, all verb modifiers (the - ly words in English) are formed by using a feminine adjective and adding the suffix -mente.
examples: honesta (honest) --> honestamente (honestly) franca (frank) --> francamente (frankly) vertical (vertical) --> verticalmente (vertically)
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If a series of adverbs is used, the ending -mente is placed on the last word.
example : José habl ó clara, rápida y facilmente. (Joseph spoke clearly, rapidly, and easily.)
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Note: When only is used to modify a noun, its Spanish forms are sola, -as, -o, - os; when only is used to modify a verb, its Spanish form is sólo, or solamente , with solamente preferred.
examples: His only dream was to have money. Su solo sueño era tener dinero. (Here, the word solo modifies sueño; no accent is used)
I only want to see the book. Sólo quiero ver el libro. (here, the word sólo modifies quiero; an accent is used)
We only have five dollars. Tenemos solamente cinco dolares. (When modifying verbs, solamente is the preferred form.)
As in English, a phrase can be used.
example: He spoke with clarity (clearly). Él habló con claridad (claramente).
They climbed without effort. Ellos subieron sin esfuerzo.
Please, speak slowly. Por favor, hable con despacio.
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A few verb modifiers have fixed forms; the ending - mente is not used. A summary follows.
| abajo, down, below | algo, somewhat | apenas, hardly | |||
| aprisa, fast | arriba, up, above | bién, well | |||
| demasiado,too much | despacio, slowly1 | después, later | |||
| jamás, not ever | mal, badly2 | más, more | |||
| menos, less | muy, very | nada, nothing | |||
| nunca, never | pronto, soon | siempre, always | |||
| tan, so | tanto, a lot | ||||
* the word despaciosamente, regarded as formal speech, is only used in Latin America
** the word malamente exists, but its usage is less frequent than mal
Taking descriptions to a higher level
Both English and Spanish use two methods to take descriptions to a higher level
Method one --> add helping words
| He spoke more quickly. | Hablaba más rápidamente. |
| He is the better speaker. | Él es el mejor orador. |
| That film was the worst. | Esa película era la peor. |
| It was the most difficult work. | Era el más difícil trabajo. |
| This music is the most intricate. | Esta música es la más intrincada. |
| That train runs less rapidly. | Ese tren corre menos rápidamente. |
| There are fewer persons. | Hay menos personas. |
| We sell it at a very low price. | Lo vendemos por un precio muy barato. |
Thus, Good bella -as -o - os beautiful
Better más bella -as -o - os more beautiful
Best la, las, el, los más bella -as -o - os the most beautiful
Thus, Bad mala -as -o - os bad
Worse peor -es worse
Worst la, las, el, los peor -es worst
Four adjectives have irregular forms, namely
buena -as -o -os mejor -es la, las, el, los óptimo -s
grande -s mayor -es la, las, el, los grande -s
mala -as -o -os peor -es la, las, el, los peor -es
pequeña -as -o -os menor -es la, las, el, los menor -es
Method two --> add an ending
It was the biggest house. Era la casa grandísima.
This is the slowest horse. Este es el caballo lentísimo.
Final vowels are dropped before adding any form of the suffix - ísimo (example: lento, lentísimo).
Spelling changes occur in words which end in -co, -go, or -z; the -co is changed to - qu; the -go is changed to - gu; the -z is changed to -c.
examples : fresco - fresquísimo largo - larguísimo feroz - ferocísimo
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In the case of adverbs, the final vowel of the adjective is dropped, and the suffix - ísimamente is added.
example: lento --> lentísimamente = most slowly
The expression very much is translated as muchísima -as, -o – os.
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To compare two things, the following expressions are used:
tan + an adjective or an adverb + como = as + adjective or adverb + as
Ella no es tan rica como él . She is not as rich as he is.
Él no es tan alto como Michael Jordan. He is not as tall as Michael Jordan.
tanta -as -o - os + noun + como = as much (as many) as
Él recibió tantas votas como pensó. He received as many votes as he expected.
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The expressions the more or the less are translated as follows.
cuanta -as -o -os más ..., tanta -as -o -os más = the more ... the more
Cuanto más canta tanto más me gusta . The more he sings, the more I like it.
cuanta -as -o -os menos ..., tanta -as -o -os menos = the less ... the less
Cuanto menos canta tanto menos me gusta . The less he sings, the less I like it.
cuanta -as -o -os menos ..., tanta -as -o -os más = the less ... the more
Cuanto menos canta tanto más me gusta . The less he sings, the more I like it.
cuanta -as -o -os más ..., tanta -as -o -os menos = the more ... the less
Cuanto más canta tanto menos me gusta. The more he sings, the less I like it.
This book is available from lulu.com under item number 3352644. Books purchased from Lulu are accompanied by a complete list of irregular verbs and all of their forms.
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