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Los niños son altos y las niñas son bajas.

Los niños son altos y las niñas son bajas.
The boys are tall and the girls are short.
From Lesson 4:Adjective agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Los niños son altos y las niñas son bajas.

Why is it altos for the boys but bajas for the girls?
Adjectives in Spanish must match the noun they describe in both gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). Since niños is masculine and plural, the adjective alto (tall) changes to altos. Because niñas is feminine and plural, bajo (short) changes to bajas.
Could los niños also mean "the children" instead of just "the boys"?
Yes! In Spanish, the masculine plural los niños can mean either a group of only boys, or a mixed group of boys and girls (children in general). However, las niñas is only ever used for a group of strictly girls.
We learned two verbs for "to be". Why do we use son here instead of están?
You use ser (which becomes son for "they are") when talking about physical characteristics or lasting traits. Being tall (alto) or short (bajo) is considered a basic characteristic of a person, so we use son. You would use están for temporary states or feelings, like being tired or temporarily sick.
Can I leave out los and las and just say Niños son altos y niñas son bajas?
No, you need the articles here! Unlike English, Spanish requires a definite article (el, la, los, or las) before the subject of a sentence, even when making a broad general statement about boys or girls.

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