El jersey azul va bien con la bufanda roja.

Breakdown of El jersey azul va bien con la bufanda roja.

azul
blue
la bufanda
the scarf
rojo
red
el jersey
the sweater
ir bien con
to go well with

Questions & Answers about El jersey azul va bien con la bufanda roja.

Why does Spanish use va bien con here? Doesn’t ir usually mean to go?

Yes, ir usually means to go, but in the expression ir bien con, it means to go well with, to match, or to suit.

So:

  • va = goes
  • bien = well
  • con = with

Literally, it is something like The blue sweater goes well with the red scarf, which is very close to natural English anyway.

This is a very common way to talk about clothes, colours, and style in Spanish.

Why are the adjectives azul and roja placed after the nouns?

In Spanish, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun, especially with things like colour, size, and shape.

So:

  • el jersey azul = the blue sweater
  • la bufanda roja = the red scarf

That is the normal word order in Spanish.
Putting colour adjectives before the noun would usually sound unnatural here.

Why is it el jersey but la bufanda?

Because Spanish nouns have grammatical gender.

This gender is part of the noun, and it affects the words around it, such as articles and adjectives.

So:

  • el jersey azul
  • la bufanda roja

Even when the object itself has no biological sex, the noun still has grammatical gender.

Why is it roja, but azul doesn’t change?

Because Spanish adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender and number, but not all adjectives change in the same way.

Since bufanda is feminine singular, you get roja.

But azul is different:

  • masculine singular: azul
  • feminine singular: azul
  • plural: azules

So azul does not change for gender in the singular, but it does change in the plural.

Why is the verb va singular?

Because the subject is el jersey azul, which is singular.

The verb ir must agree with its subject:

  • el jersey azul va
  • los jerséis azules van

So the sentence uses va because it is talking about one sweater.

Is jersey really a Spanish word? It looks English.

Yes. In Spain, jersey is a very common word for sweater or jumper.

It originally came from English, but it is fully established in Spanish. This is especially useful to know because vocabulary for clothes varies a lot across the Spanish-speaking world.

For example:

  • in Spain: jersey
  • in some other countries, you might hear suéter or other regional words

So for Spanish from Spain, jersey is completely normal.

Could I also say combina bien con instead of va bien con?

Yes, absolutely.

  • va bien con = goes well with
  • combina bien con = matches well with
  • queda bien con can also be used in some contexts

All of these can work, but they are not always identical in tone:

  • va bien con sounds very natural and everyday
  • combina bien con sounds a bit more directly about matching
  • queda bien con can suggest that something looks good with something else

So El jersey azul va bien con la bufanda roja is a very natural sentence.

Why is con used here?

Because the expression is ir bien con: to go well with.

The preposition con means with, and it links the two items being compared or matched:

  • el jersey azul
    • con
      • la bufanda roja

So if you want to say one item goes well with another, con is the normal preposition.

Can I leave out el and la in this sentence?

Usually no, not in this kind of sentence.

Spanish uses definite articles much more often than English does. Here, el jersey azul and la bufanda roja refer to specific items, so the articles sound natural and expected.

Compare:

  • El jersey azul va bien con la bufanda roja = talking about specific items
  • Jersey azul va bien con bufanda roja = sounds incomplete or unnatural in normal Spanish

So in ordinary speech, you would normally keep el and la.

How would I say this in the plural?

You would change the articles, noun, adjectives, and verb as needed:

  • Los jerséis azules van bien con las bufandas rojas.

Breakdown:

  • ellos
  • jerseyjerséis
  • azulazules
  • vavan
  • lalas
  • bufandabufandas
  • rojarojas

This is a good example of how agreement works across the whole sentence.

AI Language TutorTry it ↗
What's the best way to learn Spanish grammar?
Spanish grammar becomes intuitive with practice. Focus on understanding the core patterns first — how sentences are structured, how verbs change form, and how words relate to each other. Our course breaks these concepts into small lessons so you can build understanding step by step.

Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor

Start learning Spanish

Master Spanish — from El jersey azul va bien con la bufanda roja to fluency

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
  • Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
  • Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
  • AI tutor to answer your grammar questions