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 relative adjectives.
SCENARIO
Imagine
you talking to a friend or a work colleague about a group of people
you have met recently. Referring to a girl from that group, the other
person says: "what
is the name of the girl whose parents are English?".
In Spanish, the
other person could choose to say:
¿Cómo
se llama la chica cuyos padres son ingleses?
OUR
TIP
A
simple answer would be just to name the girl. In many cases, that
would be sufficient.
However,
there are some answers which will require you to pay particular
attention to noun-adjective agreement -see grammar notes below*.
Examples
of such answers are:
- La chica cuyos* padres son ingleses se llama Ana (the girl whose parents are English is called Ana);
- La chica cuyos* padres son ingleses se llama Isabel (the girl whose parents are English is called Isabel);
- La chica cuyos* padres son ingleses se llama Irene (the girl whose parents are English is called Irene);
Now
you should practise answering the question:
¿Cómo
se llama la chica cuyos padres son ingleses?
*NB
See Grammar below
*Grammar-Adjectives
- GenderNumberAdjectivepadremasculinesingularcuyopadresmasculine/mixedpluralcuyosmadrefemininesingularcuyamadresfemininepluralcuyas
Noun-Adjective
Agreement
See
notes below on Noun-Adjective agreement
Noun-Adjective
Agreement
In
Spanish describing words/ adjectives have to agree in gender and
number with the noun(s) they describe.
Adjectives
-Gender
Many
Spanish describing words/ adjectives have two forms:
- A masculine gender form (for example, alto)
- A similar, but different feminine gender (for example, alta).
A
few Spanish describing words/ adjectives have one single form for
both masculine and feminine (for example, inteligente).
Every
time you use a describing word which has two separate forms (for
example, alto/ alta), you need to choose the form which
matches the gender (masculine/ feminine) of what you
are describing.
Adjectives
-Number
In
contrast with English, Spanish describing words/ adjectives have also
plural* forms. Every time you use a describing word with a
plural noun (for example, señoras), you must use the plural
form of the corresponding describing word/ adjective (for example,
esas).
You
should use the masculine/ plural form of a describing
word/ adjective when it describes multiple persons/ things of
different grammatical genders.
*NB
View posts with details about the plural of Spanish words here.
Adjectives
-Use
All
the practical examples in this post refer to more than one person,
padres (parents -mixed
gender). Consequently, they require the masculine/
plural form of a describing word/ adjective, for example,
cuyos.
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