The Ultimate Guide to Spanish Adjective Placement in Sentences
There’s no question that the sky is blue, no matter what language you’re speaking.
But is it a “blue sky” or a “sky blue?”
In English, adjectives come before nouns. In Spanish, they come after.
This post will teach you everything you need about Spanish adjective placement so you can construct grammatically correct, native-sounding sentences.
Contents
- The Formula for Spanish Adjective Placement in Sentences
- Exceptions to the Spanish Adjective Placement Formula
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
The Formula for Spanish Adjective Placement in Sentences
The formula for using adjectives in a sentence is very simple in Spanish:
Adjective + Noun
In other words, you need to place the adjective after the noun it modifies.
I know it’s weird for English speakers, but once you practice a little, you’ll pick up the rule in no time.
Instead of a “blue car,” you’ll have a “car blue.” It’s almost poetic, isn’t it?
Here are some examples of Spanish sentences with adjectives:
Al cachorrito marrón le gusta a comer salchichas picantes. (The brown puppy likes to eat spicy sausages.)
Mi computadora portable está vieja. (My portable computer is old.)
Me gustan gorras escocesas con purpurina plateada. (I like plaid hats with silver glitter.)
Exceptions to the Spanish Adjective Placement Formula
Did you think that there wouldn’t be any exceptions to this rule?
That would be the case in a perfect world, but no language is perfect.
In some cases, adjectives go before the modified nouns (like in English).
Proper nouns
Proper nouns are the specific names of nouns (people, places and things), like Miguel Cervantes, Salvador Dalí and Jorge Gutierrez.
El creativo Jorge Gutierrez se especializa en películas animadas. (The creative Jorge Gutierrez specializes in animated movies.)
Nouns or relations that we only have one of
You can’t have more than one state bird, president, nose, heart, etc.
El árido y frío Plutón ya no es una planeta. (The barren and cold Pluto is not a planet anymore.)
Inherent qualities of nouns or adjectives that always associate with a noun
For example, snow is always white, water is always wet and the sky is always blue.
La brillante estrella es conocida como Sirius o “la estrella del perro.” (The bright star is called Sirius or “the dog star.”)
Adjectives referring to a specific noun
Or in other words, when you know the specific noun the adjective is referencing.
El travieso perro del cuento se comió la tarea importante. (The naughty dog from the story ate the important homework.)
Possessives
Spanish possessives depict ownership, like “mine” and “yours,” and act as adjectives because they describe ownership of items.
Su pelo es muy bonito. (Her hair is very pretty.)
Demonstratives
Spanish demonstratives are words like “this,” that” and “those.” They come before a noun when used as an adjective but replace the noun when used as a pronoun.
Esta casa es muy cara. (This house is very expensive.)
Determiners
Determiners are small words that come before nouns and determine their meaning, the two most common types being definite articles (el, la, etc.) and indefinite articles (un, una, etc.).
Me gusta las manzanas verdes. (I like the green apples.)
Quiere un vaso de agua. (He wants a cup of water.)
Numbers
Numbers describe the quantity of nouns in Spanish.
Mi hermana tiene cuatro mascotas. (My sister has four pets.)
When speaking Spanish, you have to think about gendered words and plurality.
The best way to become fluent in this Spanish skill is to practice, read, listen and write.
With a little daily practice, Spanish adjective placement can become just as easy as it is in English!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
