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April 26, 2007
Shortened Spanish Adjectives
The adjectives bueno, primero, tercero, alguno, ninguno, and uno drop the final -o when they come immediately before a masculine singular noun. For example:
Juan es un buen muchacho.
(John is a good boy.)
Es un mal hijo.
(He is a bad child.)
Enero es el primer mes del año.
(January is the first month of the year.)
Vive en el tercer piso.
(He lives on the third floor.)
Se sientan en algún banco.
(They sit down on some bench.)
Ningún alumno está ausente hoy.
(No student is absent today.)
Note that algún and ningún require an accent mark when the o is dropped.
The o is not dropped when these adjectives follow the noun. Also the feminine and the plural endings of these adjectives are never dropped. See example below:
Juan es un muchacho bueno.
(John is a good boy.)
Es un hijo malo.
(He is a bad child.)
Elena es una buena muchacha.
(Elena is a good girl.)
Algunos bancos son cómodos.
(Some benches are comfortable.)
The adjective grande drops the final -de when it precedes a singular masculine or feminine noun. For example:
Es un gran médico.
(He is a great doctor.)
Note: Gran before a noun means great. Grande following a noun means large or big. See example:
Es un gran país.
(It is a great country.)
Es un país grande.
(It is a big country.)
PDF download: Shortened Spanish Adjectives
Posted by lubw00 at April 26, 2007 07:39 AM