How do nationality adjectives work?

Question

How do I change the ending of nationality adjectives to correspond with the noun?

my spanish textbook gives this example:

español--single masculine

española--single feminine

españoles--plural masculine

españolas--plural feminine

but it's confusing to me.

Do I only change the nationality in that way when the adjective ends in a consonant?

..or what?

For example, prima and francés.

How do I make it into "French cousin"? Is it "prima francés"? "prima francésa"?

Please help! thanks

Answer 1

Hi, and welcome to the site!

You have phrased your question well and you have provided your own attempt at an answer. Very good! You get a vote and some points from me!

There is a helpful article here, in the reference section, that explains how to match adjectives to nouns in gender and number. It includes a special section on adjectives of nationality, complete with a chart.

Prima francesa is the correct form for your specific example.

Glad you're here, and thank you for following the directions on submitting your question!

but what about nationality adjectives that end in a vowel, like filipino? would they be changed as normal adjectives ending in vowels usually are? thanks ! :) - Jaz905, Sep 15, 2010

Answer 2

Yes that's right, Mi prima francesa is my french cousin (female cousin).

Answer 3

Hi jaz, well done, you are almost there

Prima francesa