Errores frecuentes — Common Mistakes

Part of Adjective agreement + position · Section 3 of 4

Exam TipsUnit: Core GrammarGCSE

This exam tips covers Errores frecuentes — Common Mistakes within Adjective agreement + position for GCSE Spanish. Revise Adjective agreement + position in Core Grammar for GCSE Spanish with 13 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 3 of 4 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.

❌ Errores frecuentes — Common Mistakes

❌ Error 1: Mi amiga es inteligento.

✅ Correcto: Mi amiga es inteligente.

Por qué importa: Inteligente ends in -e, which means it has no separate masculine or feminine form. The same spelling is used for both genders: un chico inteligente / una chica inteligente. Adding -o to make it sound "masculine" is incorrect — there is no form inteligento in Spanish. Only adjectives ending in -o (like alto) change to -a for the feminine.

❌ Error 2: Es una grande casa.

✅ Correcto: Es una casa grande.

Por qué importa: This sentence contains two errors at once. First, descriptive adjectives in Spanish follow the noun — so casa must come before grande. Second, placing grande directly before a noun would shorten it to gran and shift its meaning to "great" (una gran casa = a great house). To say "a big house," use the full form grande in its correct position — after the noun: una casa grande.

Practice questions for Adjective agreement + position

  • A. Ella es alto.
  • B. Ella es alta.
  • C. Ella estar alta.
  • D. Ella es altas.
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Quick recall flashcards

The 4-way agreement table — alto (tall) Masc sing → ? Fem sing → ? Masc pl → ? Fem pl → ?
Masc sing → alto Fem sing → alta Masc pl → altos Fem pl → altas Rule: -o ending adjectives change to -a for feminine; add -s for plural. Examples: • un chico alto / una chica alta • unos chicos altos / unas chicas altas
Nationality adjectives: making the feminine form inglés → ? español → ? francés → ? alemán → ?
inglés → inglesa (accent drops in feminine) español → española francés → francesa (accent drops in feminine) alemán → alemana (accent drops in feminine) Rule: nationality adjectives ending in a consonant: add -a for feminine AND drop any written accent, because the stress naturally falls on the right syllable without it.

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