Adjectives ...                                                       

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.  Adjectives usually are placed after the noun that they modify.

A)    Adjectives ending in –o change their ending to –a when they modify a feminine noun:

                    Buen, Buena – good; malo, mala – bad; bello, bella –beautiful

B)     Adjectives ending in –or (or –on or –an) add an –a to become feminine:

                    Hablador, habladora –talkative; alemán, alemana- German

Exceptions: Mejor – better; superior - upper, superior; exterior – outer, external, anterior – earlier, anterior; peor – worse; inferior – lower, inferior; interior – inner, internal; posterior – later, posterior.  

C)    Most other adjectives have the same ending for both genders:

                    Verde – green; azul – blue, cortés – courteous, grande – big, frágil – fragile 

Number

A)    Adjectives ending in a vowel add an –s to form the plural:

Bello, bellos – beautiful; grande, grandes – big, great

B)     Ajectives ending in a consonant add –es to form the plural:

Azul, azules – blue; débil, débiles – weak, vulgar, vulgares - vulgar

C)    If an adjective modifies more than one noun and one of those nouns is masculine, the adjective must be masculine and plural:

Mis tíos y tías eran ricos. = My uncles and aunts were rich.

Los hombres y las mujeres viejos. = Old men and women  

Shortening of Adjectives

Some adjectives shorten when they are placed in front of a masculine singular noun they modify. 

Bueno – buen; santo – san; tercero – tercer; grande – gran; malo – mal; primero - primer

Example -  El hombre es bueno. (The man is good)  El buen hombre. (The good man) 

Common Adverbs

Adverbs modify the verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs and are invariable.  The following is a list of frequently used adverbs:

Bien – well                   así – thus, so                después – after 

Más – more                  entonces – then             demasiado – too much

Siempre- always           todavía – still                tarde - late

Cerca – near                 mal – badly                   casi – almost

Antes – before               menos – less                luego – later, afterward

Bastante – enough         nunca - never

Temprano – early           lejos – far

Many adverbs are derived from the feminine form of the adjective (when such a form is available) by the addition of –mente: 

Claro / claramente – clearly                          dulce / dulcemente – sweetly

Rápido / rápidamente – quickly

Feliz / felizmente – happily

Hábil / hábilmente – skillfully
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