Coming Soon
Spanish: AQA A Level, topic 13.5.1
Los adjetivos como sustantivos - Adjectives as nouns
El artículo + adjetivo
- A definite article (el, la, los, las) can turn an adjective into a noun.
- Spanish drops the noun once it has already been named.
- Tengo dos coches, un coche rojo y un coche azul. Prefiero el rojo.
- I have two cars, a red car and a blue car. I prefer the red one.
- The adjective matches the gender and number of the noun it replaces.
- Compré dos camisas y elegí la pequeña.
- I bought two shirts and chose the small one.
La concordancia en plural
- The article and adjective change to agree with a plural noun.
- Los libros son interesantes, pero los antiguos son mejores.
- The books are interesting, but the old ones are better.
- The feminine plural follows the same pattern with las.
- Las flores son bonitas, sobre todo las amarillas.
- The flowers are pretty, especially the yellow ones.
Lo + adjetivo neutro
- Spanish uses lo plus the masculine singular form of an adjective to talk about a general idea or quality, not one specific person or thing.
- Lo importante es estudiar cada día.
- The important thing is to study every day.
- The neuter form lo never changes, even with a feminine or plural subject.
- Lo bueno de esta ciudad es la gente.
- The good thing about this city is the people.
Lo + adjetivo + que
- Spanish uses lo plus an adjective plus que to say how much of a quality there is, like 'how' in English.
- No sabes lo cansado que estoy.
- You do not know how tired I am.
- The adjective in this structure agrees with the person being described.
- No sabes lo cansada que está Ana.
- You do not know how tired Ana is.
Test yourself on Coming Soon
Decide which statement about adjectives used as nouns is correct.
Which phrase means 'the good thing' about a situation in general, rather than one specific good person?