Adjectives are words that express the quality of a noun. Spanish adjectives are essential in Spanish grammar to describe objects, people, feelings and sensations.
Bear in mind that the most common adjectives in Spanish are, as a rule, variable words. By this we mean that they agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. They are often accompanied by other words of a different grammatical category, such as adverbs.
Do you need to expand your vocabulary to express yourself better and more fluently? iScribo shows you today which are the most commonly used Spanish adjectives, both informal and formal, with examples so that you can go beyond the borders of the language.
These types of adjectives are the ones we use the most on a daily basis and they are also the easiest to learn when you are a beginner. The description of simple, everyday objects is always accompanied by these adjectives:
1. Bueno/a (good): Este plato está muy bueno (This dish is very good.)
2. Pequeño/a (small, little): La niña pequeña se cayó en el parque (The little girl fell in the park.)
3. Grande (big):El barco grande ha naufragado esta mañana (The big ship has sank this morning.)
4. Bonito/a (beautiful, pretty): Encontrarás la casa bonita al final del parque (You will find the pretty house at the end of the park.)
5. Feo/a (ugly): No debes decirle a la gente si es fea o guapa (You shouldn’t tell people whether they are ugly or pretty.)
6. Nuevo/a (new): La televisión nueva nos está dando problemas (The new TV is giving us problems.)
7. Malo/a (bad):Este ventilador nos ha salido malo (This fan has turned out badly.)
8. Aburrido/a (boring): El libro que me he comprado no es para nada aburrido (The book I bought is not at all boring.)
9. Feliz (happy): Se está criando en un entorno feliz (They are growing up in a happy environment.)
10. Triste (sad): Se ve a leguas que ese chico está triste (You can tell that this boy is sad.)
11. Importante (important): Encontrar tu propósito en la vida es muy importante (Finding your purpose in life is very important.)
12. Lento/a (slow): La trama de esta obra de teatro es lenta, no avanza (The plot of this play is slow, it doesn’t move forward.)
13. Alto/a (tal): El niño alto es la estrella del equipo de baloncesto (The tall boy is the star of the basketball team.)
14. Bajo/a (short): No importa que seas baja, te harás un hueco en el equipo de balonmano (It doesn’t matter that you’re short, you’ll make the handball team.)
15. Cansado/a (tired): No admito que estés cansado como excusa. (I won’t admit that you’re tired as an excuse.)
16. Simpático/a (nice):Una persona simpática tiene cabida en cualquier lugar (A nice person has a place anywhere.)
17. Antipático/a (unpleasant, nasty): Ha resultado ser una persona antipática (They have turned out to be an unpleasant person.)
18. Viejo/a (old): El atril viejo no servirá para el discurso (The old lectern won’t do for the speech.)
19. Difícil (difficult): Nos han puesto un examen difícil (They gave us a difficult test.)
20. Frío/a (cold):Esta casa es fría, necesita calefacción (This house is cold; it needs heating.)
There are situations in which we need to express ourselves in more formal contexts, or we simply like to use more sophisticated words. Here is a list of the most commonly used formal adjectives.
21. Eficaz (effective):El quitamanchas es eficaz en todos los tejidos (The stain remover is effective on all fabrics.)
22. Notable (remarkable):El calor latente es más que notable (The latent heat is more than remarkable.)
23. Destacado/a (outstanding):El estudiante fue el más destacado en su categoría (The student was the most outstanding in their category.)
24. Significativo/a (significant): No hay cambios significativos en el temario (There are no significant changes in the syllabus.)
25. Ilustre (illustrious): Fue ilustre su presencia en la conferencia (the student’s presence at the conference was illustrious.)
26. Épico/a (epic):Una noche épica sin lugar a duda (An epic night indeed.)
27. Reflexivo/a (reflective):Una persona reflexiva tiene más probabilidad de éxito (A reflective person is more likely to succeed.)
28. Cordial (cordial):Fue el más cordial oponente al que me enfrenté (He was the most cordial opponent I have ever faced.)
29. Consistente (consistent): La textura consistente de la salsa fue la clave del plato (The consistent texture of the sauce was the key to the dish.)
30. Sagaz (sagacious):Su actitud sagaz le dio la victoria (His sagacious attitude gave him victory.)
31. Pulcro/a (neat):No me importaría tener un animal pulcro (I wouldn’t mind having a neat pet.)
32. Grato/a (pleasant):Su presencia grata me alegró la jornada (Their pleasant presence made my day.)
33. Intachable (impeccable):Los visitantes manifestaron un comportamiento intachable (The visitors showed impeccable behaviour.)
34. Imparcial (impartial):En estas competiciones, se nota que los árbitros son imparciales (In these competitions, you can tell that the referees are impartial.)
35. Respetable (respectable):Tus ideas políticas son respetables, mas no las comparto (Your political ideas are respectable, but I don’t share them.)
36. Preciso/a (accurate):En tu trabajo has de ser precisa (In your work, you must be accurate.)
37. Reservado/a (reserved):Se trata de una persona de carácter reservado (This is a person with a reserved character.)
38. Disciplinado/a(disciplined):Los jóvenes del instituto son disciplinados (The young people at school are disciplined.)
39. Convincente (convincing):No me parece un argumento convincente (I don’t find this argument convincing.)
40. Versátil (versatile): Las bolsas reciclables tienen propiedades versátiles (Recyclable bags have versatile properties.)
Adjectives deserve special consideration because of their importance in language. Here we have basically dealt with some aspects regarding their understanding. In terms of usage, adjectives have different functions depending on their context. For example, to emphasise the action or highlight the value of the noun they modify, you can put the adjective before the noun. iScribo corrects the use of written Spanish in real time. If you have doubts about how to write a sentence, use our spelling and grammar checker. Find out how to use this powerful tool and how to get the most out of it here.
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