Adjectives, Colors & Descriptions

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In English, adjectives never change: "a tall man, a tall woman, tall men, tall women" -- "tall" stays the same every time. Spanish adjectives change form to agree with the noun they describe. A tall man is alto, a tall woman is alta, tall men are altos, tall women are altas. Four forms for one adjective. This lesson teaches you exactly how that system works, plus the colors and descriptive words you need to describe people, places, and things in Colombian daily life.

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What You Will Learn

Language Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Apply the four adjective agreement forms (masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural)
Place adjectives correctly -- after the noun in most cases
Use colors as adjectives with correct agreement
Describe people, places, and things using 15+ common adjectives
Handle adjectives that end in -e or consonants (only two forms instead of four)

Part 1: The Four-Form Agreement System

Most Spanish adjectives ending in -o have four forms:

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	alto	altos
Feminine	alta	altas

The rule: The adjective must match the noun in gender AND number. Always.

El chico alto (the tall boy -- masculine singular)
La chica alta (the tall girl -- feminine singular)
Los chicos altos (the tall boys -- masculine plural)
Las chicas altas (the tall girls -- feminine plural)

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What happens with mixed-gender groups?

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If a group contains even ONE masculine noun, the adjective takes the masculine plural form. 'Los chicos y las chicas son altos' -- not 'altas.' This is a grammatical convention, not a statement about gender importance.

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Do ALL adjectives have four forms?

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No. Adjectives ending in -e (grande, inteligente, interesante) only have TWO forms: singular and plural. 'El chico grande, la chica grande, los chicos grandes, las chicas grandes.' Same for adjectives ending in consonants (facil, dificil): facil → faciles.

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Where do adjectives go in Spanish?

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AFTER the noun, not before it like English. English: 'the red car.' Spanish: 'el carro rojo' (the car red). Some very common adjectives (bueno, malo, grande) can go before the noun for emphasis, but the default position is after.

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Knowledge Check

'La casa es ___.' (bonito = pretty)

Knowledge Check

'Los gatos son ___.' (negro = black)

Knowledge Check

'Las mesas son ___.' (pequeno = small)

Quick Check-in

Part 2: Essential Descriptive Adjectives

Here are the 15 adjectives you will use most in Colombian daily life. All follow the four-form pattern:

Adjective	Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
alto/a	alto/altos	alta/altas	tall
bajo/a	bajo/bajos	baja/bajas	short (height)
bonito/a	bonito/bonitos	bonita/bonitas	pretty
feo/a	feo/feos	fea/feas	ugly
nuevo/a	nuevo/nuevos	nueva/nuevas	new
viejo/a	viejo/viejos	vieja/viejas	old
bueno/a	bueno/buenos	buena/buenas	good
malo/a	malo/malos	mala/malas	bad
pequeno/a	pequeno/pequenos	pequena/pequenas	small
rico/a	rico/ricos	rica/ricas	rich / delicious
barato/a	barato/baratos	barata/baratas	cheap
caro/a	caro/caros	cara/caras	expensive
limpio/a	limpio/limpios	limpia/limpias	clean
sucio/a	sucio/sucios	sucia/sucias	dirty
delgado/a	delgado/delgados	delgada/delgadas	thin

Two-form adjectives (ending in -e or consonant):

Adjective	Singular	Plural	Meaning
grande	grande	grandes	big
inteligente	inteligente	inteligentes	intelligent
interesante	interesante	interesantes	interesting
facil	facil	faciles	easy
dificil	dificil	dificiles	difficult
amable	amable	amables	kind

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What does 'rico/a' mean in Colombia?

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Rico has two meanings depending on context. For food: 'La arepa esta rica' = The arepa is delicious. For people/things: 'El es rico' = He is rich (wealthy). Colombians use 'rico' for delicious food constantly -- '¡Que rico!' is one of the most common Colombian exclamations.

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Knowledge Check

'El restaurante es muy ___.' (bueno)

Knowledge Check

'La leccion es ___.' (interesante)

Knowledge Check

'Las arepas estan ___.' (rico = delicious)

Part 3: Colors as Adjectives

Colors follow the same agreement rules as other adjectives:

Four-form colors (ending in -o):

Color	Masc. Sing.	Fem. Sing.	Masc. Plur.	Fem. Plur.
red	rojo	roja	rojos	rojas
white	blanco	blanca	blancos	blancas
black	negro	negra	negros	negras
yellow	amarillo	amarilla	amarillos	amarillas

Two-form colors (ending in -e or consonant):

Color	Singular	Plural
green	verde	verdes
blue	azul	azules
gris	gris	grises

Invariable colors (NEVER change):

Color	All Forms
pink	rosa
orange	naranja
purple	morado/a*

*Note: morado does have four forms (morado/morada/morados/moradas), but rosa and naranja do not change.

Knowledge Check

'La casa es ___.' (blanco)

Knowledge Check

'Los carros son ___.' (azul)

Knowledge Check

'Las flores son ___.' (rojo)

Part 4: Building Descriptions

Describing Your Colombian Neighborhood

You: Vivo en un barrio bonito en Chapinero. Las calles son limpias y los restaurantes son buenos. Hay una iglesia vieja muy interesante y unos cafes nuevos. La gente es muy amable.

Seven adjectives, all correctly agreeing with their nouns. Bonito matches barrio (masc. sing.), limpias matches calles (fem. plur.), buenos matches restaurantes (masc. plur.), vieja matches iglesia (fem. sing.), interesante stays the same (ends in -e), nuevos matches cafes (masc. plur.), amable stays the same (ends in -e).

Describing People at a Party

Andrea: Mira, ahi esta Carlos. El es alto y delgado. Su novia es baja pero muy bonita. Los dos son super inteligentes y muy amables. Carlos tiene un carro rojo nuevo.

Notice the pattern: every adjective matches the noun it describes. Inteligentes and amables only change for number (plural -es), not gender.

At a Colombian Market

Vendedor: Tengo mangos amarillos muy ricos, fresas rojas frescas, y aguacates verdes grandes. Todo barato. You: Las fresas se ven buenas. ¿El aguacate esta maduro? Vendedor: Si, perfecto para hoy. Esta rico.

Colors and descriptive adjectives working together in a real market scenario.

How to Describe Anything in Spanish

1. Start with the noun and its article

El carro, la casa, los libros, las flores.

2. Choose your adjective and check its base form

Is it a four-form (-o) adjective, a two-form (-e/consonant) adjective, or invariable?

3. Match the adjective to the noun

Match gender (if applicable) AND number. Masculine plural noun = masculine plural adjective.

4. Place the adjective AFTER the noun

Reflection

Key Takeaways

Most adjectives ending in -o have FOUR forms: -o, -a, -os, -as
Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant have only TWO forms: singular and plural
Adjectives go AFTER the noun in Spanish (el carro rojo, not el rojo carro)
Colors follow the same agreement rules as other adjectives
Mixed-gender groups take the masculine plural form
"Rico/a" means both "rich" and "delicious" in Colombian Spanish

Summary Checklist

Before moving on, make sure you can:

Apply the four forms of any -o adjective correctly
Handle two-form adjectives (grande, inteligente, facil)
Use at least 6 colors with correct agreement
Describe a person, a place, and a thing using multiple adjectives

This Week's Practice

Daily Practice Tasks

Day 1-2: Write descriptions of 5 objects in your home: "La mesa es grande y marron. El sofa es comodo y viejo."
Day 3-4: Describe 3 people you know using at least 3 adjectives each: "Mi mama es alta, inteligente y amable."
Day 5-7: Write a paragraph describing your ideal Colombian apartment: "Quiero un apartamento grande con ventanas bonitas y una cocina nueva."

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Adjectives, Colors & Descriptions

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What You Will Learn

Part 1: The Four-Form Agreement System

Part 2: Essential Descriptive Adjectives

Part 3: Colors as Adjectives

Part 4: Building Descriptions

How to Describe Anything in Spanish

1. Start with the noun and its article

2. Choose your adjective and check its base form

3. Match the adjective to the noun

4. Place the adjective AFTER the noun

Key Takeaways

Summary Checklist

This Week's Practice

•••Home

•••Your Learning Path

•••Your Support

•••Bogotá

•••Resources

Spanish Assistant

Adjectives, Colors & Descriptions

Loading Quiz...

Lesson discussion

Leave a comment

What You Will Learn

Part 1: The Four-Form Agreement System

Part 2: Essential Descriptive Adjectives

Part 3: Colors as Adjectives

Part 4: Building Descriptions

How to Describe Anything in Spanish

1. Start with the noun and its article

2. Choose your adjective and check its base form

3. Match the adjective to the noun

4. Place the adjective AFTER the noun

Key Takeaways

Summary Checklist

This Week's Practice

Home

Your Learning Path

Your Support

Bogotá

Resources