Short-form Adjectives in Spanish

Subjects | Spanish Notes | Spanish Grammar

Introduction

⇒ Some Spanish adjectives need to be shortened when they come before a singular masculine noun. The fancy term for this shortening process is apocopation.

Original Adjective Shortened Adjective Example
bueno buen Nico es un buen chico.
malo mal No seas un mal amigo.

Common Shortened Adjectives

⇒ Quite a few common adjectives are shortened before masculine singular nouns. Here's a list of some you're likely to come across:

Original Adjective Shortened Adjective English
bueno buen good
malo mal bad
uno un one, a
primero primer first
tercero tercer third
ciento cien one hundred
cualquiera cualquier any, whatever
alguno algun some
ninguno ningún none

Santo Cielo

⇒ Santo is an adjective that is shortened only before certain nouns.

⇒ It is not shortened with names that begin with Do- or To- or when it precedes a common noun.

San Francisco
Saint Francis
San Miguel
Saint Michael
Santo Domingo
Saint Dominic
Santo Tomás
Saint Thomas
el santo templo
the holy temple
todo el santo día
all day long (literally: the whole sainted day)

Grande

Big Changes:

⇒ Grande is shortened when it precedes both masculine and feminine singular nouns.

Vive en una gran casa.
She lives in a great house.
Es un gran músico.
He is a great musician.

Big Exceptions:

⇒ The short form of grande is not used when:

  • it's used in the comparative or superlative
  • it's used in an exclamatory with the word cuán
  • when it appears in coordination with other adjectives
Soy más grande que tú.
I'm bigger than you.
Es el festival más grande del mundo.
It's the biggest festival in the world.
Todavía no se sabe cuán grandes serán las pérdidas.
How great the losses will be is still unknown.
La grande y noble nación mexicana superará esto.
The great and noble Mexican people will rise above this.