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Lesson 14A1

Adjective Agreement

विशेषण की सहमति

Spanish adjectives change their ending to match the gender and number of the noun they describe — and Hindi adjectives do exactly the same kind of thing with अच्छा/अच्छी/अच्छे, so this habit will already feel familiar rather than brand new.

Grammar Comparison

व्याकरण तुलना

-o/-a adjectives change for gender — just like Hindi's -ा/-ी adjectives

Spanish

el niño alto (tall boy) / la niña alta (tall girl)

Hindi

लंबा लड़का / लंबी लड़की

Adjectives ending in -o switch to -a to agree with a feminine noun — alto becomes alta. Hindi's लंबा does exactly the same thing, switching to लंबी for a feminine noun — लंबा लड़का, लंबी लड़की. If you already remember to make this switch in Hindi, the Spanish version of the same habit should come naturally.

Plural nouns need plural adjectives too — Hindi does this as well

Spanish

los niños altos / las niñas altas

Hindi

लंबे लड़के / लंबी लड़कियाँ

Adjectives also add -s or -es to match a plural noun, on top of matching its gender — so a single adjective can take four different forms (alto/alta/altos/altas) depending on what it's paired with. Hindi's लंबा similarly shifts to लंबे for plural masculine nouns (लंबे लड़के), so both languages ask the adjective to track gender and number together, just with different endings doing the work.

Word order: Spanish usually puts the adjective after the noun; Hindi puts it before

Spanish

un libro interesante (an interesting book — adjective after)

Hindi

एक रोचक किताब (adjective before)

Hindi, like English, places descriptive adjectives before the noun. Spanish usually reverses that order for descriptive adjectives — un libro interesante, not un interesante libro — though a handful of common adjectives (like bueno, malo, gran) can go before the noun with a slightly different nuance. Default to putting the adjective after the noun unless you've specifically learned an exception.

Vocabulary

शब्दावली

SpanishPronunciationHindiEnglish
alto / altaAHL-toh / AHL-tahलंबा / लंबीlambā / lambītall
bajo / bajaBAH-hoh / BAH-hahछोटा / छोटीchoṭā / choṭīshort
grandeGRAHN-dehबड़ाbaṛābig
pequeño / pequeñapeh-KEH-nyoh / peh-KEH-nyahछोटा / छोटीchoṭā / choṭīsmall
bonito / bonitaboh-NEE-toh / boh-NEE-tahसुंदरsundarpretty
interesanteeen-teh-reh-SAHN-tehरोचकrocakinteresting