Introduction
This
post is about the use of describing words/ adjectives in general, and
more specifically about the use of the
masculine/
plural form
of a describing word/ adjective.
SCENARIO
Imagine
you are talking to
a relative, a friend or a work colleague. You are talking about a new
pair of trousers you have bought. At some point the other person
says to you something like: "what
colour are the trousers?"
In
Spanish, the other person could say:
¿De
qué color son los pantalones?
OUR
TIP
The
question is an invitation for you to say what colour your trousers
are. Here are some examples of how you could reply:
- Son negros* (they are black);
- Son blancos* (they are white);
- Son marrones* (they are brown);
- Son (de color) marrón claro* (they are light brown);
- Son (de color) marrón oscuro* (they are dark brown);
- Son azules* (they are blue);
- Son (de color) azul marino* (they are navy blue);
- Son grises* (they are grey);
- Son rojos* (they are red);
- Son verdes* (they are green);
- Son amarillos* (they are yellow);
Now
you should practise answering the question:
¿De
qué color son los pantalones?
*NB
See Grammar below
*Grammar-Adjectives
- GenderNumberAdjectivepantalónmasculinesingularnegropantalonesmasculinepluralnegroschaquetafemininesingularnegrachaquetasfemininepluralnegras
Noun-Adjective Agreement
See
notes below on Noun-Adjective agreement
Noun-Adjective
Agreement
As
you can see above, in Spanish we use colours as describing words/
adjectives when saying what colour things are. Below follow some
notes on how to choose the correct form of the adjective to say what
colour something is.
Adjectives
-Gender
When
you use Spanish describing words/ adjectives, you need to bear in
mind that for each describing word in English, there are often two
related but different describing words/ adjectives in Spanish. The
reason being that Spanish describing words/ adjectives have to
'agree' with the gender (masculine or feminine) of the person they
describe. Most Spanish describing words have similar but separate
words for each of the two genders (for example, rojo/
roja). A few, however
have one single form (for example, verde).
Thus
when you come to use a describing word to say what colour something
is, you need to check whether the corresponding Spanish describing
word/ adjective has:
- One single form to describe both a male and female persons (for example , verde)
- Two separate forms (for example, rojo/ roja).- If the describing word/ adjective has two separate forms, then you need to choose the form which matches the gender (masculine/ feminine) of the person to describe.
Adjectives
-Number
When
you use Spanish describing words/ adjectives, you also need to bear
in mind that Spanish describing words/ adjectives have singular and
plural* forms the same as nouns. A Spanish describing word/ adjective
must also to 'agree' with the number (singular/
plural)** of the thing
it describes. For example, pantalón rojo
(red trouser) or pantalones
rojos (red trousers).
*NB
View posts with details about the plural of Spanish words here.
**NB
Please note that when the describing word/ adjective is a colour
which is in itself being modified by another describing word/
adjective (for example marrón claro)
it is common to use the singular even with plural nouns, for example,
pantalones marrón claro.
Adjectives
-Use
All
the practical examples in this post refer to trousers (plural),
pantalones. Consequently,
they require the masculine/ plural form of a describing word/
adjective, for example, rojos.
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