This introduction covers Los adjetivos de nacionalidad — Nationality Adjectives 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 4 of 4 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
🌍 Los adjetivos de nacionalidad — Nationality Adjectives
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|
| inglés | inglesa | English |
| español | española | Spanish |
| francés | francesa | French |
| alemán | alemana | German |
| irlandés | irlandesa | Irish |
⭐ Accent drop in the feminine
When a masculine nationality adjective ends in a stressed consonant (marked with an accent: inglés, francés, alemán), the accent is written to show which syllable carries the stress. In the feminine form, adding -a naturally shifts the word's rhythm so the stress falls correctly without a written accent: inglesa, francesa, alemana. The accent is not "removed" — it simply becomes unnecessary.
Compare: inglés → inglesa (NOT inglése). Students often write the accent on the feminine by analogy — this is wrong.
⭐ No capital letters for nationalities
In Spanish, nationality adjectives are never capitalised. Write soy inglés, not soy Inglés. This is one of the most common errors from English speakers who automatically capitalise nationalities and languages. AQA examiners expect lower case throughout.