A2 · Adjectives · about 4 minutes
Short forms: buen, gran
bueno becomes buen, grande becomes gran — but only in front.
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“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need6
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- largolong
- ciena hundred
- cientoa hundred (before a number)
- primerofirst
- el errorthe mistake
- la ideathe idea
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
RememberShortening happens only in front, only in the singular — and except for gran only in the masculine.
- Signal words
- buen
- mal
- gran
- primer
- tercer
- algún
- ningún
- cien
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Spanish.
negation
| bueno | un buen día — un día bueno |
| malo | un mal ejemplo — un ejemplo malo |
| grande | una gran ciudad — una ciudad grande |
| primero / tercero | el primer piso, el tercer día |
| alguno / ninguno | algún problema, ningún problema |
| ciento | cien euros, cien mil — ciento veinte |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
bueno, malo, primero, tercero, alguno and ninguno shorten only before a masculine singular.
Hoy es un buen día para salir.Today is a good day for going out.
grande becomes gran before any singular noun and then means «great».
Madrid es una gran ciudad.Madrid is a great city.
Behind the noun the full form is always used.
Fue un día bueno, tranquilo y largo.It was a good day, quiet and long.
cien goes before nouns and before mil, ciento before smaller numbers.
Pagué cien euros, no ciento veinte.I paid a hundred euros, not a hundred and twenty.
Example sentences
Vivo en el primer piso.I live on the first floor.
No tengo ningún problema con eso.I have no problem with that.
Fue un gran error.That was a big mistake.
7 more example sentences
¿Hay algún banco por aquí?Is there a bank around here?
Es el tercer día de lluvia.It is the third day of rain.
No hay ningún tren hasta las ocho.There is no train until eight.
Tuvimos muy buena suerte.We were very lucky.
Fue un mal momento para llamar.It was a bad moment to ring.
Hay cien sillas en la sala.There are a hundred chairs in the hall.
San Juan es el patrón del pueblo.Saint John is the village's patron saint.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The shortening gets carried over to the feminine, because it sounds so handy. It applies to the masculine only — except with grande. «A good idea» is una buena idea and never «una buen idea».
Quick check
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Practise
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Your progress
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
A handful of common adjectives lose their last piece in front of a masculine singular noun: bueno becomes buen, malo becomes mal, primero becomes primer, tercero becomes tercer, alguno becomes algún, ninguno becomes ningún. Behind the noun they stay whole.
grande is the special case: it becomes gran in front of *any* singular noun, masculine or feminine — and with that shortening the meaning shifts from «big» to «great».
ciento shortens too: in front of a noun and in front of mil it is cien, otherwise ciento. And santo becomes san in front of most men's names, but stays santo before To- and Do-: Santo Tomás, Santo Domingo.
The verbs on this page, in every form: ser · tener · salir · pagar · vivir