Spanish: An Essential Grammar

(avery) #1
Isolated exceptions without a distinct feminine form are:marrón‘brown’,
afín‘similar/related’.

A common group of exceptions ending in -or, without a distinct feminine
form, is that comprising words which have a comparative sense:
anterior previous mayor greater/ posterior later
older
exterior outer mejor better superior upper/
superior
inferior lower/ menor lesser/ ulterior further/
inferior younger later
interior inner peor worse
Uniquelysuperiortakes a feminine form forla madre superiora ‘mother
superior’.

Adjectives of nationality and regional origin

Those masculine forms ending in -ofollow the pattern in 6.1.1, while those
ending in a consonant add an -a:
chino china Chinese
francés francesa French
andaluz andaluza Andalusian
Other nationality adjectives (those that end in -a, -ense, -íor -ú) have the
same form for both genders:
belga Belgian canadiense Canadian
marroquí Moroccan hindú Hindu/Indian
Su padre es belga y su madre canadiense.
Her father is Belgian and her mother Canadian.

Adjectives with no distinct feminine form

In general there are no different feminine forms for adjectives which do not
fall into any of the three categories from 6.1.1 to 6.1.3.

6.1.4.1

6.1.4

6.1.3

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40


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Gender

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