Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ustedes son estudiantes inteligentes.

Ustedes son estudiantes inteligentes.

You are intelligent students.

Breakdown of Ustedes son estudiantes inteligentes.

Questions & Answers about Ustedes son estudiantes inteligentes.

Why is it inteligentes and not something like inteligentos or inteligentas?

The adjective inteligente ends in the letter -e, which means it is invariable—it doesn't change for masculine or feminine. To make it match the plural noun estudiantes, you simply add an -s to the end, making it inteligentes.

Why does the sentence say estudiantes inteligentes instead of inteligentes estudiantes?

In Spanish, describing words (adjectives) usually come right after the thing they are describing (the noun). So the English phrase intelligent students becomes estudiantes (students) inteligentes (intelligent).

Why is the verb son used with ustedes?

Ustedes means you (plural). In Latin American Spanish, ustedes always uses the same verb forms as they (ellos or ellas). Since the they form of the verb ser (to be) is son, we say ustedes son.

Is estudiantes a masculine or feminine word?

The singular word estudiante ends in -e, which means it can be either masculine or feminine depending on who you are talking about. Because the adjective inteligentes is also flexible for gender, this exact sentence works perfectly whether you are talking to a group of men, a group of women, or a mixed group!