Categories: Spanish as a language

What Are the Different Forms of Adjectives in Spanish?

Adjectives are words that accompany or qualify a noun. These words give us more information about the nouns or distinguish them from each other. Adjectives agree in gender and number with the nouns they accompany.

Do you want to know the different forms of adjectives in Spanish? Discover today with iScribo the correct form of adjectives in Spanish.

The grado (form) of the adjective expresses the intensity with which the qualities of the nouns are explained.

What are Adjectives in Their ‘Positive’ Form?

Adjectives in their ‘positive’ form are adjectives in their neutral state, in other words, in their basic form.

Raúl está triste porque su equipo ha perdió. (Raul is sad because his team lost.)

La casa roja de la esquina es la que ha comprado Marta. (The red house on the corner is the one that Marta has bought.)

How to Form the Comparative in Spanish?

The comparative form is used to make comparisons between two or more nouns. It is formed with the adverbs más, menos, tan, igual (and similar), followed by the adjective and que or como:

más/menos/tan + adjective + que/como

There are three types of comparative adjectives:

Comparative of equality: Jesús es tan listo como Pepa. (Jesús is as smart as Pepa.)

Comparative of superiority: Josefa es más hábil que Mario. (Josefa is more skillful than Mario.)

Comparative of inferiority: La piscina de Sonia es menos grande que la de Juan. (Sonia’s pool is less big than Juan’s pool.)

How to Write Superlatives in Spanish?

The superlative form describes the highest level of a quality. There are two types depending on the level of comparison.

On the one hand, there is the relative superlative, which indicates that the adjective describes the highest quality that exists, compared to another element. It is formed with an article, the adverbs más or menos and the adjective itself:

article + más/menos + adjective

Pedro es el más alto de su clase. (Pedro is the tallest in his class.)

El coche es el menos rápido que existe en el mercado. (The car is the least fast on the market.)

On the other hand, we have the absolute superlative, which determines the highest degree of a quality without comparing it to any other element.

El perro es listísimo, sabe lo que le están hablando. (The dog is very clever, he knows what they are talking about.)

Este país es paupérrimo, ojalá alguien hiciera algo por ayudar. (This country is very poor, I wish someone would do something to help.)

iScribo & Grammar

Note that some adjectives are irregular, both in their comparative and superlative forms:

bueno/mejor/el mejor or óptimo

malo/peor/el peor or pésimo

grande/mayor/el mayor or máximo

pequeño/menor/el menor or mínimo iScribo’s spelling and grammar checker helps you to write correct Spanish. Use our tool and find out if you can write the form of irregular adjectives correctly. Do you know any other examples? Tell us about them in the comments.

Maria del Mar Pérez

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