Catalan adjectives agree with the noun they describe in gender and number. English says “new” in a new book, a new house, and new houses; Catalan changes the adjective: un llibre nou, una casa nova, unes cases noves. Agreement tells the listener which words belong together.
The noun is the head of the phrase. First learn its gender and number; then choose the matching adjective form. The adjective follows the same agreement rule whether it comes directly after the noun, before it, or after a verb such as ser or estar.
The four-form pattern
Many adjectives have four visibly different forms. A common pattern adds -a for feminine singular, -s for masculine plural, and -es for feminine plural.
| Gender and number | alt | Phrase |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | alt | un edifici alt |
| feminine singular | alta | una torre alta |
| masculine plural | alts | uns edificis alts |
| feminine plural | altes | unes torres altes |
Vivim en un edifici alt, però treballem en una torre encara més alta.
We live in a tall building, but we work in an even taller tower.
Aquelles dues cases blanques tenen uns balcons petits i estrets.
Those two white houses have small, narrow balconies.
The second example contains two agreement chains. Aquelles, dues, cases, and blanques are feminine plural; uns, balcons, petits, and estrets are masculine plural. The adjective does not simply copy the nearest ending: it expresses the gender and number of its own head noun.
Spelling may change while agreement stays regular
Adding feminine or plural endings sometimes requires a spelling change that preserves the consonant sound. These adjectives are still regular in agreement.
| Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| bonic | bonica | bonics | boniques |
| blanc | blanca | blancs | blanques |
| llarg | llarga | llargs | llargues |
| tranquil | tranquil·la | tranquils | tranquil·les |
Hem fet una passejada llarga per unes platges tranquil·les i molt boniques.
We took a long walk along some quiet, very beautiful beaches.
The middle dot in tranquil·la and tranquil·les is required: it marks two separate l sounds rather than the digraph ll. Likewise, boniques and llargues use qu and gu before e to preserve the consonant value heard in the other forms.
Two-form adjectives
Some adjectives distinguish number but not gender. They have one singular form for both masculine and feminine and one plural form for both.
| Adjective | Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Plural, both genders |
|---|---|---|---|
| young | un noi jove | una noia jove | uns nois joves / unes noies joves |
| large / old | un pis gran | una casa gran | uns pisos grans / unes cases grans |
| kind | un veí amable | una veïna amable | uns veïns amables / unes veïnes amables |
| difficult | un examen difícil | una prova difícil | uns exàmens difícils / unes proves difícils |
La veïna nova és molt amable i els seus fills també són amables.
The new neighbor is very kind, and her children are kind too.
The form amable does agree with veïna: agreement simply has no separate feminine ending here. “Same form” is not the same as “no agreement.” Number is still visible in amable/amables.
A useful three-form pattern
A few frequent adjectives have the same singular for both genders but different masculine and feminine plurals. Adjectives ending in -ç often behave this way.
| Singular, both genders | Masculine plural | Feminine plural |
|---|---|---|
| feliç | feliços | felices |
| capaç | capaços | capaces |
El nen sembla feliç, la nena també sembla feliç i les dues germanes semblen felices.
The boy looks happy, the girl also looks happy, and the two sisters look happy.
There is no honest shortcut that turns every adjective into either a four-form or a two-form type. Learn frequent three-form adjectives explicitly, and use the regular adjective endings page for the larger set of patterns.
Agreement after ser and estar
An adjective still agrees when a verb separates it from the noun. Compare the full paradigm:
El carrer és tranquil; la plaça és tranquil·la; els carrers són tranquils; les places són tranquil·les.
The street is quiet; the square is quiet; the streets are quiet; the squares are quiet.
English may encourage learners to treat the adjective after “is/are” as fixed. Catalan does not: ser or estar links the description to a subject, and the adjective shows that subject's gender and number.
Les finestres de l'habitació estan obertes perquè fa calor.
The bedroom windows are open because it is hot.
Although habitació is closer to obertes, the adjective describes finestres, so it is feminine plural. Meaning and phrase structure identify the head; distance does not cancel agreement.
Position can change meaning, not agreement
Neutral descriptive adjectives commonly follow the noun: un barri tranquil, una jaqueta grisa. Some common adjectives can precede it, often with a more evaluative or special meaning.
La Júlia és una gran dona: sempre ajuda tothom.
Júlia is a great woman: she always helps everyone.
La Júlia és una dona gran i ja no surt gaire de nit.
Júlia is an older woman and no longer goes out much at night.
This context-sensitive pair uses the same feminine singular form gran. Before the noun it means “great”; after the noun, with a person, it commonly means “old/older.” Agreement stays constant while position changes the interpretation.
The adjective gris is a useful Spanish trap. Spanish uses gris for both masculine and feminine singular, but Catalan has gris/grisa: un abric gris, una jaqueta grisa. Closely related words can belong to different paradigms.
Agreement across the whole noun phrase
Articles, demonstratives, quantifiers, nouns, and adjectives work as a system. A longer phrase may display the same features many times.
Aquestes dues finestres petites i blanques són noves, però les portes grans són antigues.
These two small white windows are new, but the large doors are old.
Catalan also normally uses the definite article for a general class where English uses a bare plural: Els cotxes elèctrics són silenciosos “Electric cars are quiet.” The article and adjective agree with the plural noun; number marking is distributed through the phrase.
If one adjective describes coordinated nouns of different genders, further rules are needed: un llibre i una revista nous. That topic belongs to complex noun-phrase agreement.
The core adjective system is shared across standard varieties. Keep neighboring determiners and possessives consistent: Central aquestes cases meves; (regional: Valencian) estes cases meues. Both contain correct feminine plural agreement, but combining aquestes with meues creates an unnecessary hybrid in a single-variety model.
Common Mistakes
1. Leaving the adjective in one English-like form.
❌ La casa és petit i les finestres són petit.
Incorrect — petit must agree with the feminine singular and feminine plural subjects.
✅ La casa és petita i les finestres són petites.
The house is small, and the windows are small.
2. Adding -a to a two-form adjective.
❌ La professora és molt amabla.
Incorrect — amable has the same singular form for both genders.
✅ La professora és molt amable.
The teacher is very kind.
3. Copying Spanish adjective or noun gender.
❌ M'he trencat el dent i ara el tinc gris.
Incorrect — dent is feminine in Catalan, and gris therefore becomes grisa.
✅ M'he trencat la dent i ara la tinc grisa.
I broke my tooth, and now it is gray.
4. Copying English generic article distribution.
❌ Cotxes elèctrics són silenciosos.
Incorrect — a neutral statement about the whole class normally needs the definite plural article.
✅ Els cotxes elèctrics són silenciosos.
Electric cars are quiet.
5. Mixing Central and Valencian paradigms.
❌ Aquestes dues cases meues són blanques.
Inconsistent in a single neutral variety — aquestes is Central and meues is Valencian.
✅ Aquestes dues cases meves són blanques.
These two houses of mine are white. Central standard baseline.
Key Takeaways
Let the head noun choose the adjective's gender and number. Learn whether an adjective has four forms, two forms, or an important three-form pattern; apply agreement after verbs as well as inside noun phrases; and remember that position can alter meaning without canceling agreement. Catalan makes the links among words visible, so read the whole noun phrase as one coordinated system.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Masculine and Feminine NounsA1 — Learn how Catalan noun gender controls articles, determiners, and adjectives, and why gender cannot be reduced to natural sex or English translation.
- Regular Masculine and Feminine FormsA1 — Build Catalan adjective gender forms, including consonant-to-a, o-to-a, unchanged endings, and spelling-preserving alternations.
- Adjective PluralsA1 — Form Catalan adjective plurals with -s, -es, and -os, including spelling changes, invariant colors, and coordinated-noun agreement.
- Adjective Position Before and After the NounB1 — Choose Catalan adjective position by distinguishing neutral description, classification, evaluation, fixed orders, and information structure.
- Complex Noun-Phrase AgreementB2 — Master agreement across coordinated nouns, mixed genders, intervening complements, and collective heads in complex Catalan noun phrases.