Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): El juez es majo y responsable.

majo (nice, pleasant) and responsable (responsible) are seen as part of the judge’s character, not just how he is today.
So Spanish treats them as essential traits, and that calls for ser → es.

If you used está here (El juez está majo y responsable), it would sound strange or joking, as if:

he happens to be acting nice and responsible right now, temporarily,
or you are commenting on his mood/appearance in a very unusual way.

In normal, standard use, it must be es.

Why do we say El juez es majo y responsable and not just Es juez majo y responsable?

Both patterns exist, but they mean slightly different things.

El juez es majo y responsable.
- El juez is the subject: a specific judge already known in the conversation.
- majo y responsable are qualities of that particular judge.
- Rough English feel: The judge is nice and responsible.
Es juez majo y responsable.
- Here juez majo y responsable functions more like a profession + description.
- Roughly: He is a nice and responsible judge.
- You are identifying what he is (a judge) and qualifying that profession (nice and responsible).

Why do we need el in the original?

When you are talking about a specific judge (the one we both know), you normally use the article:
- El juez es… = That judge (you know which one).
When you are just saying what someone’s profession is, you usually omit the article:
- Es juez. = He is a judge.
- Es un juez majo. is also possible but adds a nuance of “one judge (of several), and he’s nice”.

So:

El juez es majo y responsable. → Focus on the person already identified.
Es (un) juez majo y responsable. → Focus on his profession and what kind of judge he is.

Does juez have a feminine form? What if the judge is a woman?

Yes, there is a feminine form: jueza.

el juez → the (male) judge, or historically generic
la jueza → the (female) judge

In modern Peninsular Spanish:

For a woman, la jueza is widely used and sounds natural:
- La jueza es maja y responsable.
Some speakers (especially older or more traditional) still say la juez, but la jueza is now very common and generally preferred in inclusive language.

So, if the judge is a woman, you would normally say:

La jueza es maja y responsable.

Why is it majo but responsable stays the same? How does adjective agreement work here?

In Spanish, adjectives usually agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun.

majo
- Ends in -o, so it changes for gender and number:
  - Masculine singular: majo
  - Feminine singular: maja
  - Masculine plural: majos
  - Feminine plural: majas
- Examples:
  - El juez es majo.
  - La jueza es maja.
  - Los jueces son majos.
  - Las juezas son majas.
responsable
- Ends in -e, and most adjectives ending in -e are invariable for gender:
  - Masculine singular: responsable
  - Feminine singular: responsable
  - Masculine plural: responsables
  - Feminine plural: responsables
- Examples:
  - El juez es responsable.
  - La jueza es responsable.
  - Los jueces son responsables.
  - Las juezas son responsables.

In El juez es majo y responsable:

juez is masculine singular → majo (masc. sg.) and responsable (sg.) agree with it.

Could I say Los jueces son majos y responsables for the plural? Is there anything tricky about the plural of juez?

Yes, Los jueces son majos y responsables is correct for the plural.

Two points:

Plural of juez
- juez → jueces (the z changes to c before -es).
- This z → c change is a regular spelling rule in Spanish:
  - luz → luces
  - pez → peces
  - juez → jueces
Adjective agreement in the plural:
- majo → majos to match jueces (masc. plural).
- responsable → responsables in the plural.
- So:
  - Los jueces son majos y responsables.
  - For women: Las juezas son majas y responsables.

What exactly does majo mean in Spain? Is it the same as simpático or nice?

Majo is a very common colloquial word in Spain. Its meaning overlaps with nice, pleasant, friendly, sometimes likeable.

Nuances:

majo often suggests:
- warm, easy to get on with,
- informal, friendly, down‑to‑earth.
It is not very formal; it sounds conversational.

Comparison:

simpático: closer to “kind / friendly / likeable” in a more neutral or slightly more formal way.
majo: everyday, slightly more informal and very typical of Spain (especially central and northern areas).

Examples:

Es muy majo. = He’s really nice (friendly, a good sort).
La camarera fue muy maja. = The waitress was really nice/helpful.

In much of Latin America, majo is not used in this sense, or it may sound peninsular. They would more often say simpático, buena onda, agradable, etc.

Why do the adjectives come after the noun? Could I say El majo y responsable juez?

In Spanish, the default position for descriptive adjectives is after the noun:

El juez majo y responsable
La jueza responsable

In your sentence, the adjectives are in the predicate (after the verb ser), so they naturally come after:

El juez es majo y responsable.

About El majo y responsable juez:

Grammatically possible, but it sounds literary, marked, or stylistic.
Putting adjectives before the noun often:
- adds emphasis or subjectivity, or
- is used in fixed expressions (e.g. la blanca nieve = the white snow, poetic).

Ordinary, neutral Spanish prefers:

El juez majo y responsable (adjectives after the noun), or
El juez es majo y responsable (as in your sentence).

So for everyday speech, keep the adjectives after the noun or after ser.

Can I change the order and say El juez es responsable y majo? Does the order matter?

Yes, you can say El juez es responsable y majo. It is grammatically correct.

Meaning-wise:

The two adjectives still describe the same person.
There is no big change in meaning; both majo y responsable and responsable y majo work.

Subtle nuances:

In many languages, the last item can feel slightly more emphasized.
If you say:
- El juez es majo y responsable.
  → slight focus on him being responsable (it’s the last thing you hear).
- El juez es responsable y majo.
  → slight focus on majo.

In everyday conversation, people don’t usually read much into this; both orders are natural.

Why do we use el juez here, when I learned professions usually come without an article, like Es juez?

You are right that, with professions, Spanish often omits the article when simply identifying what someone is:

Es juez. = He is a judge.
Es médico. = He is a doctor.

But in El juez es majo y responsable, el juez is not just any judge:

It refers to a specific judge, already identified in the context.
You are talking about that particular person, not just stating a profession.

Difference:

Es juez. → He is a judge (profession, in general).
El juez es majo y responsable. → The judge (the one we both know) is nice and responsible.

So:

No article when you are simply saying what someone does: Es juez.
Article when you are talking about the specific judge as a known person: El juez…

How do you pronounce juez, es, majo, and responsable in Spain?

Approximate Peninsular Spanish pronunciation (IPA for reference):

juez → /xweθ/
- j = a harsh h sound, from the back of the throat.
- ue = like we in wet but as one syllable with w-like glide.
- z in most of Spain = th in think (voiceless dental fricative /θ/).
es → /es/
- Short e, like e in bed but a bit clearer.
majo → /ˈmaxo/
- ma stressed.
- j again is the harsh h sound.
- o like in Italian or German, pure vowel.
responsable → /responˈsaβle/
- r at the start = tapped/flapped, a quick single r.
- s always like English s.
- b between vowels written as b or v is pronounced the same, here as a soft /β/, a kind of weak b/v.
- Stress on -sa-: res‑pon‑SA‑ble.

So the whole sentence in a standard central/northern Spain accent:

El juez es majo y responsable. → /el xweθ es ˈmaxo i responˈsaβle/