Lesson 06 · 5 min read
Spanish Colors and Describing Things
Adjectives let you describe the world — colors, sizes, and qualities. In Spanish, adjectives usually come after the noun and change their ending to match the noun in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).
1. Colors
Colours behave like other adjectives: they follow the noun and agree with it. "Un coche rojo" but "una casa roja". Colours ending in -e or a consonant — verde, azul, gris — do not change for gender, only for number, which makes them the easy ones.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| rojo | red |
| azul | blue |
| verde | green |
| amarillo | yellow |
| negro | black |
| blanco | white |
| naranja | orange |
| rosa | pink |
| gris | gray |
| morado | purple |
2. Common adjectives
Most Spanish adjectives sit after the noun, the reverse of English: "una casa grande", not "a big house" word-for-word. Adjectives ending in -o change to -a for feminine nouns and add -s or -es in the plural, so one adjective has up to four forms to match what it describes.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| grande | big |
| pequeño | small |
| nuevo | new |
| viejo | old |
| bueno | good |
| malo | bad |
| bonito | pretty |
| feo | ugly |
3. Agreement in a sentence
Notice how the adjective ending changes to match the noun.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| el coche rojo | the red car (masculine singular) |
| la casa roja | the red house (feminine singular) |
| los coches rojos | the red cars (masculine plural) |
| las casas rojas | the red houses (feminine plural) |
4. Making adjectives agree
Every Spanish adjective has to match its noun in gender and number, and the pattern depends on the ending. Adjectives ending in -o have four forms: rojo, roja, rojos, rojas. Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant have only two: verde and verdes, azul and azules. That is the whole system. A small set of adjectives changes meaning depending on whether it sits before or after the noun. Un viejo amigo is a friend of long standing; un amigo viejo is a friend who is elderly. Un gran hombre is a great man; un hombre grande is a large one. Position is doing real work in these pairs, not just style.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| claro / oscuro | light / dark | Un azul más claro, por favor. — A lighter blue, please. |
| un viejo amigo | an old friend (long-standing) | Es un viejo amigo de la familia. — He's an old family friend. |
| un amigo viejo | an elderly friend | Tengo un amigo viejo de noventa años. — I have an elderly friend of ninety. |
| bonito / feo | pretty / ugly | Es una casa bonita. — It's a pretty house. |
| mismo | same | Llevamos el mismo abrigo. — We're wearing the same coat. |
Use it in context
Colours and adjectives earn their keep when you are describing something you own or want to buy.
- Tengo un coche rojo y una casa blanca.
I have a red car and a white house. - La casa nueva es más grande que la vieja.
The new house is bigger than the old one. - Esas casas blancas son muy bonitas.
Those white houses are very pretty. - Prefiero el azul oscuro al azul claro.
I prefer dark blue to light blue. - Un viejo amigo no es lo mismo que un amigo viejo.
An old friend is not the same as an elderly friend. - El coche gris es pequeño pero nuevo.
The grey car is small but new.
Both are correct — they mean different things
aburrido with ser and with estar
Ella es aburrida. — She is boring.
Ella está aburrida. — She is bored.
Both are correct Spanish and they say different things. The same flip catches listo (clever / ready) and rico (wealthy / delicious).
Common mistakes
una roja casa → una casa roja
Descriptive adjectives follow the noun in Spanish. Putting the colour first is grammatical only in poetry, and it sounds like it.
Quick check
una casa ___ — roja / rojo
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roja — Adjectives agree with the noun, and casa is feminine.
Which is the natural order? — una casa roja / una roja casa
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una casa roja — Colour adjectives normally follow the noun: una casa roja.
un viejo amigo means… — a long-standing friend / an elderly friend
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a long-standing friend — Before the noun, viejo is about the friendship; after it, about the person's age.