Overview
Some Spanish adjectives need to be shortened when they come before a singular masculine noun. The fancy term for this shortening process is apocopation.
Original Adjective Shortened Adjective Example
bueno
buen
Nico es un buen chico.
malo
mal
No seas un mal amigo.
Common Shortened Adjectives
Quite a few common adjectives are shortened before masculine singular nouns. Here's a list of some you're likely to come across.
Original Adjective Shortened Adjective English
bueno
buen
good
malo
mal
bad
uno
un
one, a
primero
primer
first
tercero
tercer
third
ciento
cien
one hundred
cualquiera
cualquier
any, whatever
alguno
algún
some
ninguno
ningún
none
The shortened adjectives algún and ningún have a written accent mark, or tilde .
Santo Cielo
Santo is an adjective that is shortened only before certain nouns. It is not shortened with names that begin with Do- or To- or when it precedes a common noun.
San Francisco
Saint Francis
San Miguel
Saint Michael
Santo Domingo
Saint Dominic
Santo Tomás
Saint Thomas
el santo templo
the holy temple
todo el santo día
all day long (literally: the whole sainted day)
Grande
Big Changes
Grande is shortened when it precedes both masculine and feminine singular nouns.
Vive en una gran casa.
She lives is a great house.
Es un gran músico.
He is a great musician.
Big Exceptions
The short form of grande is not used when
it's used in the comparative or superlative
it is used in an exclamatory with the word cuán
when it appears in coordination with other adjectives.
Soy más grande que tú.
I'm bigger than you.
Es el festival más grande del mundo.
It's the biggest festival in the world.
Todavía no se sabe cuán grandes serán las pérdidas.
How great the losses will be is still unknown.
La grande y noble nación mexicana superará esto.
The great and noble Mexican people will rise above this.
