Adjectives: Number Agreement

Nouns are the bosses of the sentence. They decide if everything else is singular or plural. If you are talking about one book, it is el libro. If you have two, they are los libros. The adjective must follow the boss. If the book is "new," you say el libro nuevo. If you have many new books, you say los libros nuevos. Notice how both words grew an -s at the end? That is the agreement in action. It happens with colors, sizes, and descriptions. Even if the adjective comes after the noun, they stay connected. It is like a grammar invisible string. You cannot have a singular noun with a plural adjective. That would be like wearing one flip-flop and one boot. It just looks and sounds a bit off!

1. 1Making adjectives plural is actually quite simple. You just need to look at how the word ends. Follow these three easy steps:
2. 2If the adjective ends in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), just add -s.
3. 3rojo (red) becomes rojos.
4. 4grande (big) becomes grandes.
5. 5If the adjective ends in a consonant, add -es.
6. 6azul (blue) becomes azules.
7. 7joven (young) becomes jovenes (note: sometimes accents change, but don't worry yet).
8. 8If the adjective ends in a -z, change the -z to a -c and add -es.
9. 9feliz (happy) becomes felices.
10. 10capaz (capable) becomes capaces.
11. 11Yes, even native speakers sometimes forget the -z to -c rule when writing. Think of it as a secret handshake for the letter C. It is a small change that makes a big difference.

You must use number agreement every single time you describe something. Imagine you are at a busy Mexican market. You want to buy some yellow shirts. You would say camisas amarillas. If you only said camisa amarilla, the vendor might be confused.

Use it when:

• Describing your family members: Mis hermanos son altos.
• Ordering food at a restaurant: Quiero dos cafés calientes.
• Talking about your hobbies: Tengo muchas guitarras viejas.
• Describing your pets: Mis gatos son perezosos.

In a job interview, this is very important. You want to describe your habilidades profesionales (professional skills). If you forget the plural, you might sound a bit less polished. But don't stress! Most people will still understand you. Just keep practicing that plural "s" sound.

There are very few times when you skip this rule. Some colors derived from nouns don't always change. For example, rosa (pink) or naranja (orange). Some people say camisas rosa instead of camisas rosas. This is a bit of a gray area in grammar.

Also, do not pluralize the adjective if the noun is singular. This sounds obvious, but English speakers often get confused with collective nouns. In Spanish, la gente (the people) is singular. So you say la gente es simpática. You do not make the adjective plural just because "people" feels like many. Follow the form of the noun, not the idea of the noun. It is like a grammar traffic light. Red means stop and check the noun's ending.

The most common mistake is the "English Habit." In English, we never pluralize adjectives. You might say los coches rápido by mistake. Remember, the adjective needs that -s too! It should be los coches rápidos.

Another mistake is forgetting the consonant rule. People often try to add just -s to words like azul. Saying azuls is a common slip-up. Always remember to add the extra e for azules. It makes the word much easier to pronounce.

Lastly, watch out for the gender-number combo. You have to match both! If you have las gatas (female cats), they are blancas. If you have los gatos (male cats), they are blancos. It is like matching your socks to your shoes. You want the whole outfit to look good together.

In English, we only pluralize nouns and some pronouns. We say "those big houses." Only "those" and "houses" show plurality. "Big" stays exactly the same. In Spanish, every single word in that phrase changes. Esas casas grandes.

In French, they also have number agreement. But in French, you often don't hear the plural -s. In Spanish, you must pronounce it! That hissing sound at the end of words is the music of Spanish. If you don't say the -s, it sounds like you are talking about one thing. It is much more phonetic than other languages. What you see is what you get.