Recursio
Lesson 11. Big and small
10 words in this lesson
Tap 🔊 and repeat out loud. These words come back in the dialogue and the exercises below.
adjective agreement in gender and number
The adjective matches the noun
English adjectives never change: a small house, small houses. Spanish adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | un piso pequeño | los pisos pequeños |
| feminine | una casa pequeña | las casas pequeñas |
The gender comes from the noun, not from its meaning: la casa is feminine, so una casa pequeña; el piso is masculine, so un piso pequeño. That’s why you learn every noun with its article.
Adjectives in -o and the rest
- Adjectives ending in -o have four forms: nuevo, nueva, nuevos, nuevas.
- Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant are the same for both genders in this lesson; only the number changes: grande — grandes, fácil — fáciles, difícil — difíciles. The plural works like the nouns in lesson 3: -es after a consonant.
The adjective agrees after ser too: La casa es pequeña. Los pisos son caros. Nora es simpática. For a mixed group of men and women, use the masculine form: Lucía y Javier son simpáticos.
Where the adjective goes
In this lesson the adjective comes after the noun, the opposite of English: una casa pequeña — “a small house,” un piso nuevo — “a new apartment.” Spanish also has adjectives before the noun; that comes in a later module.
Un poco from lesson 7 works with adjectives too: un poco caro — “a little expensive.”
False friend: simpático
Simpático means “nice, friendly, easy to get along with,” not “sympathetic.”
Es una casa pequeña. — It's a small house.
El coche es viejo. — The car is old.
Los pisos son caros. — Apartments are expensive.
Nora es simpática. — Nora is nice.
Las sillas son baratas. — The chairs are cheap.
Dialogue
Listen to each line and repeat it. Try to understand it before you look at the translation.
Javier Nora, ¿vives en un piso grande? Nora, do you live in a big apartment?
Nora No, es pequeño. Es un piso viejo y bonito. No, it's small. It's an old, pretty apartment.
Javier ¿Es caro? Is it expensive?
Nora Sí, un poco. Los pisos son caros en Madrid. Yes, a little. Apartments are expensive in Madrid.
Javier Es verdad. ¿Y los vecinos? That's true. And the neighbors?
Nora Son simpáticos. Y la calle es bonita. They're nice. And the street is pretty.
Javier ¿Y el español? ¿Es fácil? And Spanish? Is it easy?
Nora Un poco difícil. La profesora es simpática. A little difficult. The teacher is nice.
Check yourself
Listen. What did you hear?
1. How do you say “a small house”?
2. How do you say “Apartments are expensive”?
3. How do you say “Nora is nice”?
4. How do you say “The classes are easy”?
Match each word with its translation
Build the sentence: “It's a small house”
Build the sentence: “Apartments are expensive”
What you can do now
- Describe a thing: Es una casa pequeña. El coche es viejo.
- Describe a person: Nora es simpática.
- Make an adjective agree: los pisos caros, las casas caras
- Talk about price and difficulty: Es caro. Es un poco difícil.
Key phrases of the lesson:
Es una casa pequeña.
Los pisos son caros.
Nora es simpática.
Day 11 of 100. Next up: the following lesson.
Lesson 12. Where are you and how are you? →The course is the first step. Next comes the Recursio app: short daily practice with spaced review.