No quiero la roja; prefiero la azul.

I don't want the red one; I prefer the blue one.

Breakdown of No quiero la roja; prefiero la azul.

• yo: I
• querer: to want
• preferir: to prefer
• ;: semicolon

Questions & Answers about No quiero la roja; prefiero la azul.

Why does Spanish use la roja and la azul instead of just the color words on their own?

Because in Spanish, the article la can stand in for a feminine singular noun that has already been understood from context.

So la roja literally means the red one and la azul means the blue one.

For example, if you are choosing between two shirts, No quiero la roja; prefiero la azul means I don’t want the red one; I prefer the blue one.

Spanish does this very naturally:

• el rojo = the red one (masculine)
• la roja = the red one (feminine)
• los rojos = the red ones
• las rojas = the red ones

Why is it roja and not rojo?

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun it refers to in gender and number.

Here, the missing noun is understood to be feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• rojo = masculine singular
• roja = feminine singular

For example:

• el coche rojo = the red car
• la camisa roja = the red shirt

In your sentence, the noun is omitted, but the agreement stays:

• la roja = the red one

Why does azul not change to a different feminine form?