Describing things and what is around us in Spanish

We have already seen the things that we have in our class. It’s time to describe them. Do you think that the description of a thing is gonna be permanent or a temporary expression? Well, it depends. Basically we would say that describing a thing demands a permanent expression as its characteristic belongs to it permanently. Eventually, a thing can also have a temporary state; the thing can be broken, in good/bad condition…so on. Let’s focus first on permanent characteristics.  So we are going to start asking:

¿CÓMO ES TU CLASE?

HOW      IS YOUR CLASSROOM?

• LA CLASE ES…
• THE CLASS IS…

♣ Note:

1. CLASE is a feminine/singular noun; therefore, the article the, will be feminine/Singular LA.
2. ES. As we have already explained, most of the characteristics are permanent, so, it will take us in the question to SER  and normally SER in the answer as well. Conjugated 3rd person singular as we are talking about a 3rd thing (IT) and a single thing ; ES.

Once we have it all explained, let’s see the most common adjectives to describe its characteristics :

♣ Note:

1. GRANDE, ends with vowel E, therefore, the gender remains the same for masculine/feminine.
2. VIEJO; as we have seen previously, this adjective can be used as we do in English, to describe a person as well.
3. ANTIGUO, we will use this adjective only to describe things. The meaning is pretty much the same as VIEJO but a person can’t be antique so far :).
4. LIMPIO, it is an adjective that can be easily used in a permanent/temporary expression. A thing can be clean and be part of its characteristics, or, it can be clean in a temporary expression, which means that it’s not always clean. As we said, we will explain that in the further sections of this blog.
5. SUCIO,  it is an adjective that can be used easily in a permanent/temporary expression. A thing can be dirty and be part of its characteristics, or, it can be dirty in a temporary expression, which means that it’s not always dirty. As we said, we will explain that in the further sections of this blog as it happens with several adjectives written above as you may have already thought about it.

So, we already have tools to start describing a thing. Let’s see it back:

¿CÓMO ES TU CLASE?

HOW      IS YOUR CLASSROOM?

• LA CLASE ES MODERNA Y CUADRADA
• THE CLASS IS MODERN AND SQUARE.

♣ Note:

1. MODERNA is a feminine/singular adjective because it refers to CLASE, which is a feminine/singular noun.       CLASE (feminine/singular Noun) ⇒ MODERNA (feminine/singular adjective).
2. CUADRADA is a feminine/singular adjective because it refers to CLASE, which is a feminine/singular noun.       CLASE (feminine/singular Noun) ⇒ CUADRADA (feminine/singular adjective).

Let’s see another example:

¿CÓMO SON TUS LIBROS?

HOW       ARE YOUR BOOKS?

• LOS LIBROS SON NUEVOS Y LARGOS.
• THE BOOKS   ARE  NEW      AND  LONG.

♣ Note:

1. LIBROS is a masculine/plural noun, therefore, the determinant article will be masculine/plural LOS.     LOS (masculine/plural Article) ⇒ LIBROS (masculine/plural noun).
2. SON, as libros is a 3rd thing and plural (we have many), the verb will be also 3rd person/plural of SER: SON.
3. NUEVOS is a masculine/plural adjective because it refers to LIBROS, which is a masculine/plural noun.       LIBROS (masculine/plural noun) ⇒ NUEVOS (masculine/plural adjective).
4. LARGOS is a masculine/plural adjective because it refers to LIBROS, which is a masculine/plural noun.       LIBROS (masculine/plural noun) ⇒ LARGOS (masculine/plural adjective).

And one more example:

¿CÓMO ES TU ORDENADOR?

HOW     IS YOUR COMPUTER?

• EL ORDENADOR ES ANTIGUO Y RUIDOSO
• THE COMPUTER IS OLD (ANTIQUE) AND NOISY.

♣ Note:

1. ORDENADOR is a masculine/singular noun, therefore, the determinant article will be masculine/singular EL.     EL (masculine/singular Article) ⇒ ORDENADOR (masculine/singular noun).
2. ES; as ordenador is a 3rd thing and singular (we have only one), the verb will be also 3rd person/singular of SER: ES.
3. ANTIGUO is a masculine/singular adjective because refers to ORDENADOR which is a masculine/singular noun.       ORDENADOR (masculine/singular noun) ⇒ ANTIGUO (masculine/singular adjective).
4. RUIDOSO is a masculine/singular adjective because refers to ORDENADOR which is a masculine/singular noun.       ORDENADOR (masculine/singular noun) ⇒ RUIDOSO (masculine/singular adjective).

We are sure that you have understood the explanation above, but, as we said before in person’s description these singular/plural, masculine/feminine things, will probably drive you a bit crazy. Well, it is just a matter of time and practice, and, even though so, mistakes will come all the way, so be patient and keep going.

◊ In the following blog, we are going to keep describing permanently, the characteristics of a thing. It’s time to see colors!