Plurals and adjective agreement

What you’ll learn

• Form common noun plurals.
• Match articles and adjectives to a noun.
• Recognize adjectives such as grande that share a masculine and feminine form.

Make more than one

A noun ending in an unstressed vowel usually adds -s: casa becomes casas. Many nouns ending in a consonant add -es: profesor becomes profesores. Words ending in z change z to c before -es: luz becomes luces. Stress and written accents can change in a plural, so check a new word rather than just adding letters mechanically.

The article changes too. El libro becomes los libros, and la ciudad becomes las ciudades. Do not leave a singular article before a plural noun. Learn useful singular/plural pairs aloud, keeping the stressed syllable clear. Some words do not visibly change, such as lunes: el lunes and los lunes are distinguished by the article.

Make the description agree

Many adjectives have four forms: alto, alta, altos and altas. Match the adjective to the noun it describes, whether the adjective follows the noun directly or follows ser. Las casas blancas and Las casas son blancas both show feminine plural agreement. An adjective describing a mixed group conventionally takes the masculine plural.

Not all adjectives change for gender. Grande and interesante use the same singular form with masculine and feminine nouns, then add -s in the plural. Nacionalidades may have other patterns: español becomes española, while canadiense stays the same for gender. At this stage, put ordinary descriptive adjectives after the noun and check every part of the phrase.

Useful vocabulary

grande

big

pequeño / pequeña

small

interesante

interesting

Common mistakes

• Change the article as well as the noun when forming a plural.
• Grande does not become granda for a feminine noun.
• An adjective still agrees when it follows ser.

Keep these ideas

• Common plurals use -s or -es.
• Articles and adjectives agree with the noun.
• Some adjectives change only for number.

Use it in your life

Change two singular descriptions from an A1 story into plural descriptions. Check the article, noun and adjective together.

Read it in context

Look for this lesson’s ideas in a complete Spanish story. Read the passage first, then use its translations to check your understanding.