Plurals Tips and notes

Plural nouns are those nouns that end in "s" and "es" in order to show that there is more
than one of a thing.
Rules for pluralizing nouns in Spanish are as follows:
If the word ends in a vowel, add the letter s to make it plural. For example, "nio" becomes
"nios".
If the word ends in a consonant, add the letters es to make it plural. For example "profesor"
becomes "profesores".
One important exception occurs in these rules: With words that end in z, the z changes to c
before we add es. For example, "lapiz" becomes "lapices".
Adjectives that modify nouns must also be pluralized to show agreement. For example,
when pluralizing a phrase such as "el nio alto", all three parts must change. El becomes
los, nio becomes nios, and alto becomes altos so that the phrase reads "los nios altos".
Notice, the form of "the" must also match so that all three parts of the phrase agree in
number - they are all pluralized.
Possessive Determiners

Tips and notes

Possessive determiners are adjectives that are used to show ownership, such as "my" in
"my dog." There are five possessive determiners in Spanish:
Spanish

English

mi

my

tu

your (familiar singular)

su

his, her, your (formal), their

nuestro

our

vuestro

your (familiar plural, used in Spain)

The first three of these have only two forms, singular and plural:

Singular

Plural

mi

mis

tu

tus

su

sus

For example, "my dog" is "mi perro" and "my dogs" is "mis perros."
"Mi", "tu" and "su" do not have masculine and feminine forms, so for example you say "mi
gato" and also "mi gata."
Nuestro and vuestro have four forms depending on the gender and number of the noun
being referred to:
Singular
Masculine

Plural
Masculine

Singular
Feminine

Plural
Feminine

nuestro

nuestros

nuestra

nuestras

vuestro

vuestros

vuestra

vuestras

For example, it is "nuestro gato," "nuestra gata," "nuestros gatos," and "nuestras gatas."
Long-form Possesive Adjectives and Pronouns
The determiners above are always used before the noun. Spanish has an additional "longform" way to describe possession, which usually comes after the noun:
Spanish

English

mo, mos, ma, mas

mine, my

tuyo, tuyos, tuya, tuyas

yours, your (familiar singular)

suyo, suyos, suya, suyas

his, hers, yours (formal), your (formal), theirs,

their

nuestro, nuestros, nuestra,

nuestras

ours, our

vuestro, vuestros, vuestra,

yours, your (familiar plural, used in Spain)

Spanish

English

vuestras
"El gato es mo" means "The cat is mine."
Note that the possessive adjectives vary by number and gender. The change is with the
nouns they modify, not with the person(s) who possess the object. For example, for a male
cat you say "El gato es tuyo" (The cat is yours) regardless of whether you are talking to a
man or a woman.
The short form and long forms of nuestro and vuestro and related pronouns are identical.
They differ only as to whether they are used before or after the noun.
Tu Versus T
The two words "tu" and "t" are pronounced the same. "T" is the personal pronoun
meaning "you" (informal), and "tu" is the possessive adjective meaning "your" (informal).

Tips and notes

Present Tense Verb Endings
In Spanish, the verb endings change in order to describe who is doing the action and when.
Most verbs are "regular," meaning they change their endings in predictable ways.
Person

Endings

Examples

-o

yo como, yo leo

you (familiar)

-es, -as

t comes, t nadas

he, she, it, you (formal)

-e, -a

l come, ella nada, usted lee

we

-amos, -emos,
-imos

nosotros comemos, nosotros

nadamos

you (plural Latin

America)

-en, -an

ustedes comen, ustedes nadan

you (plural Spain)

-is, -is

vosotros comis, vosotros nadis

they

-en, -an

ellos comen, ellos nadan

Tips and notes

Colors Have Gender and Number
In Spanish, colors (and other adjectives) have to match the noun they refer to in terms of
gender and number. For example for a male cat you say "el gato blanco," for a female cat
you say "la gata blanca," and in the plural you say "los gatos blancos" or "las gatas
blancas." Below is a table for the most common colors:

Color

Masculine
Singular

Masculine
Plural

Feminine
Singular

Feminine
Plural

white

blanco

blancos

blanca

blancas

black

negro

negros

negra

negras

red

rojo

rojos

roja

rojas

blue

azul

azules

azul

azules

green

verde

verdes

verde

verdes

yellow

amarillo

amarillos

amarilla

amarillas

Tips and notes

S Versus Si
Although "s" and "si" sound the same, "s" (with an accent mark) means "yes" and "si"
means "if."
Y, E, O, U
The word for "and" in Spanish is "y," and the word for "or" is "o." However, if the word after
"and" starts with an "i" or "hi" (which sounds the same as "i" because the "h" in Spanish is
always silent), then you need to use "e" instead of "y." For example "sons and daughters" is
"hijos e hijas." Similarly, if the word after "or" starts with "o" or "ho," then you have to use "u"
instead of "o." For example, "dog or bear" is "perro u oso."