Glossary
Small capitals indicate that the word is described elsewhere in the Glossary.Active see VoiceAdjectives (see 2, 3 and 5 )
Adjectives are words which describe nouns, and they agree in number (singular or
plural) and gender (masculine or feminine) with the noun they describe:
Es un lugar muy bonito.
It is a very nice place.
Las habitaciones son muy cómodas.
The rooms are very comfortable.
Adjectives in Spanish also function as nouns (see 5.3) and as adverbs (see 14 ).Adverbs
Adverbs are words which tell you something about a verb, an adjective or another
adverb:
Me Ilaman muy a menudo.
They call me very often.
Ana María era increíblemente bella.
Ana María was incredibly beautiful.
Hablabatremendamente rápido.
He/she was speaking tremendously fast.Agent
The performer of a verbal action: in an active sentence, the agent is typically the
subject of the sentence; in a passive sentence, the agent (the subject of the
corresponding active sentence) is usually introduced by ‘by’ in English and by por in
Spanish.Antecedent (see especially 18.2.5)
This is the noun to which a relative clause pertains, and which usually stands
immediately before the relative pronoun:
El muchacho que está con Pedro es amigo mío.
The boy who is with Pedro is a friend of mine.xix