Does Adjective Change Gender Based on Someone's Name in a Sentence?

Question

Hi, I am wondering if the gender of an adjective changes based on an individual's name being masculine or feminine in a sentence.

For instance, is "Cindy es más rica que Jerry" correct, even though rico is the adjective and is usually masculine?

Thanks.

Please fill out your profile so that we may better help you .Bienvenido al fora , buena suerte amiga. - ray76, Sep 10, 2014

Answer 1

Also, I'm not sure why you say "rico is the adjective and is usually masculine."

Dictionaries list adjectives in their masculine form, but that doesn't mean the masculine is more frequent or more important. It's just a vestige of the era when masculine was considered the default gender (because society as a whole was sexist, not for any reasons having to do with language).

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Sep 10, 2014

:) - ian-hill, Sep 10, 2014

Answer 2

The adjective is changed based on the sex of the individual named, not on the name, one generally assumes someone with a female name is female, and with a male name, male.

However I remember a song called “A boy named Sue” and if you were to refer to that individual you would still use masculine forms.

So, yes, the normal assumption would be to use rica with Cindy. Unless it is a guy named Cindy.

Answer 3

An adjective matches its gender to the gender of the noun it is modifying.

So in the sentence: Sue has red hair. it would be: Sue tiene cabello rojo. So the name Sue has nothing to do with the gender of rojo.

So, it can change with the gender of the person but only if the adjective is describing the person. Otherwise like the example above it changes with the noun it is modifying.

Good additional point. :) - bosquederoble, Sep 10, 2014