To understand how adjectives and nouns work together in Spanish, we need to look at two main topics: gender and number.

Gender Agreement

In Spanish, nouns can be either masculine (boy) or feminine (girl).

• Masculine nouns usually end with -o.

  • For example, niño means boy, and libro means book.

• Feminine nouns usually end with -a.

  • For example, niña means girl, and casa means house.

When we use adjectives, they must match the gender of the nouns they describe.

• Example:
  • El niño alto (The tall boy)
  • La niña alta (The tall girl)

Number Agreement

Nouns can be singular (one) or plural (more than one).

To make a noun plural in Spanish, you usually add -s or -es:

• If the noun ends in a vowel, just add -s:

  • casa (house) becomes casas (houses)

• If the noun ends in a consonant, add -es:

  • libro (book) becomes libros (books)

Adjectives also need to change to match whether the nouns are singular or plural:

• For plural nouns, adjectives change too:
  • Los niños altos (The tall boys)
  • Las niñas altas (The tall girls)

Agreement Examples

1. Singular:

   • El coche rojo (The red car - masculine)
   • La mesa roja (The red table - feminine)

2. Plural:

   • Los coches rojos (The red cars - masculine)
   • Las mesas rojas (The red tables - feminine)

Simple Sentence Structure

A basic Spanish sentence goes like this: Subject + Verb + Object.

When we add adjectives, they come after the noun.

• Example:
  • El perro negro juega. (The black dog plays.)

Questions Involving Adjectives

When you ask questions, adjectives still need to match the nouns:

• ¿Qué coche rojo tienes? (What red car do you have?)
• ¿Qué casa grande es tuya? (Which big house is yours?)

Negation

To say something is not true with adjectives, we use "no":

• No tengo un perro negro. (I do not have a black dog.)
• No tengo una casa grande. (I do not have a big house.)

Summary

It’s important to know how adjectives and nouns work together in gender and number to create correct sentences in Spanish.

Always remember to change the adjectives to fit the gender and number of the nouns. The more you practice, the better you’ll understand this basic part of Spanish grammar!