The Everything Spanish Grammar Book: All The Rules You Need To Master Espanol (Everything®) by Julie Gutin Read Free Book Online Page B

change in the use of accent marks or a spelling modification. One common change occurs with adjectives that end –z. Because sounds “ze” and “zi” almost never occur in Spanish, the spelling is modified to –ces to reflect correct pronunciation:
la información veraz
the correct information
las informaciones veraces
(sets of) correct information
    A Few Exceptions
    Although the majority of adjectives behave according to the few simple rules described here, a few exceptions do exist. Some adjectives end in –a regardless of whether they modify a feminine or a masculine noun, and therefore only have two forms. This is especially true of adjectives that end with –ista, –asta, and –ita (though not when the ending –ita is used to signal a feminine diminutive):
el pensamiento optimista
optimistic thought
el aficionado entusiasta
enthusiastic fan
el ambiente cosmopolita
cosmopolitan environment
    As you can see, adjectives optimista, entusiasta, and cos-mopolita end in –a even when they modify masculine nouns like pensamiento, aficionado, and ambiente . In the plural, the ending would be –as:
los pensamientos optimistas
optimistic thoughts
los aficionados entusiastas
enthusiastic fans
los ambientes cosmopolitas
cosmopolitan environments
    FACT
    A past participle is a verb form ending in –ado (–AR verbs) and –ido (–ER and –IR verbs) used in compound tenses: he comprado (I have bought), había vendido (I had sold). In Spanish, past participles are frequently used as adjectives: las cosas vendidas (the sold things). When used as an adjective, the past participle must agree in number and gender with the noun it modifies.
    Another set of adjectives make up an exception to the rule that adjectives ending with a consonant only have two forms. In fact, adjectives that end in – dor , – ón , – ín , and – án actually have four forms:
vistazo acusador
accusing glance
mirada acusadora
accusing look
vistazos acusadores
accusing glances
miradas acusadoras
accusing looks
obrero holgazán
lazy worker
empleada holgazana
lazy employee
obreros holgazanes
lazy workers
empleadas holgazanas
lazy employees
    The correct endings here are –a (feminine/singular), –es (masculine/plural), and –as (feminine/plural).
    Switching Places
    In English, adjectives always precede the noun they modify, but the same is not necessarily true in Spanish. Generally, qualifying adjectives come after the noun and determinant adjectives appear before the noun:
cosas bonitas
pretty things (qualifying adjective)
otras cosas
other things (determinant adjective)
    When a noun is modified by two kinds of adjectives, each adjective will stay in its designated place:
otras cosas bonitas
other pretty things
    If both adjectives are qualifying adjectives, the two are connected with y (and):
cosas raras y bonitas
rare and pretty things
    However, if you wish to emphasize one of the adjectives, drop the y and place the more important adjective last:
cosas raras bonitas
rare things that are pretty
cosas bonitas raras
pretty things that are rare
    Moving It Up
    Sometimes a qualifying adjective may be moved to precede the noun it modifies. This is often the case when the adjective points to an inherent or obvious characteristic and may be thought of as part of a noun phrase, and it doesn’t add any new information to the phrase:
el caliente sol
the hot sun
el triste lamento
the sad lament
    ESSENTIAL
    The following adjectives drop the final –o when they appear before the noun in the masculine/singular form: bueno/buen (good), malo/mal (bad), primero/primer (first), tercero/tercer (third), alguno/algún (some), ninguno / ningún (neither), grande/gran (big, great) cualquiera/cualquier (whichever).
    However, if you wished to emphasize how hot the sun is or how sad the lament, you would move the adjective to the end: el sol caliente, el lamento triste. Adjectives indicating subjective judgment or describing abstract nouns may also be moved to precede the