1. Avancemos 1 Unit 1 Lesson 2 Describing People
Definite & Indefinite Articles
Noun/Adjective Agreement

2. Vocabulario

3. Vocabulario
For each set of vocabulary words on our list, we’ll ask two questions:
¿Qué sabes?
(What do you already know?)
¿Qué puedes adivinar?
(What can you guess?)
Then we’ll work together to fill in the ones we couldn’t guess.

4. Personality Traits (14) ¿Cómo eres? artístico(a) atlético(a) bueno(a)
cómico(a)
desorganizado(a)
estudioso(a)
inteligente
malo(a)
organizado(a)
perezoso(a)
serio(a)
simpático(a)
trabajador(a)
What are you like?
Artistic
Athletic
Good
Funny
Disorganized
Studious
Intelligent
Bad
Organized
Lazy
Serious
Kind
Hard-working

5. Physical Traits (9) Tall Short Pretty Big Good-looking / handsome
alto(a)
bajo(a)
bonito(a)
grande
guapo(a)
joven (pl. jóvenes)
pelirrojo(a)
pequeño(a)
viejo(a)
Tall
Short
Pretty
Big
Good-looking / handsome
Young
Red-haired
Small
Old

6. Articles These four words mean “the” These two words mean “a”
These two words mean “some” Un
Una El La
Los
Las
Unos
Unas

7. Hair and Eye Color (8) Tengo... Tiene... I have… He / She has…
pelo rubio
pelo castaño
pelo negro
ojos azules
ojos castaños
ojos verdes
I have…
He / She has…
Blonde hair
Brown hair
Black hair
Blue eyes
Brown eyes
Green eyes

8. People (6) el amigo/ la amiga el chico / la chica
el estudiante / la estudiante
el hombre
la mujer
la persona
Friend
Boy / Girl
Student
Man
Woman
Person

9. Other Words & Phrases (4)
muy
un poco
porque
todos (as)
Very
A little
Because
All / Every

10. Cultural Note: Adjectives
Most adjectives in Spanish end in O when you see them on a vocabulary list or in the dictionary. But the ending can switch to an A or OS or AS depending on the noun that is being described.

11. Definite & Indefinite Articles

12. Big Ideas: Nouns Nouns are people, places and things.
In Spanish, all nouns are either masculine or feminine.
All nouns are also either singular or plural depending on how many there are.

13. Big Ideas: Gender
Normally, nouns that end in ‘o’ are masculine and words that end in ‘a’ are feminine.
If we are talking about a group of people that has males and females, we use the masculine plural version as the default.

14. Definite Articles
When you learn a noun or see it in the dictionary, it will have a definite article. These words mean “the.”
Masculine
Feminine
Singular EL LA
Plural
LOS
LAS

15. Definite Article Practice
Are these words masculine or feminine? Singular or plural?
La chica
Las clases
El estudiante
Los amigos

16. Definite Article Practice
Are these words masculine or feminine? Singular or plural?
La chica FEMININE, SINGULAR
Las clases FEMININE, PLURAL
El estudiante MASCULINE, SINGULAR
Los amigos MASCULINE, PLURAL

17. Indefinite Articles
If you are talking about nouns, you might use the word “a” or “some” instead. That’s called an indefinite article.
Masculine
Feminine
Singular UN
UNA
Plural
UNOS
UNAS

18. Article Practice What do these phrases mean? La chica Unas clases
Un estudiante
Los amigos

19. Article Practice What do these phrases mean? La chica THE GIRL
Unas clases SOME CLASSES
Un estudiante A STUDENT
Los amigos THE FRIENDS

20. Noun/Adjective Agreement

21. Big Ideas: Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe nouns (big, tall, kind, difficult).
In Spanish, we put adjectives AFTER nouns in a sentence.
In Spanish, adjectives have to match the noun it describes in gender and number.

22. More Big Ideas: Agreement
If an adjective ends in ‘o,’ you can switch it to an ‘a’ to make it feminine.
If an adjective ends in a vowel, you add an ‘s’ to make it plural.
If an adjective ends in a consonant, you add an ‘es’ to make it plural.

23. Adjectives
So most adjectives in Spanish actually have 4 versions:
“GOOD”
Masculine
Feminine
Singular
BUENO
BUENA
Plural
BUENOS
BUENAS

24. Adjective Practice What do these phrases mean?
La chica alta THE TALL GIRL
Unas clases buenas THE GOOD CLASSES
Un estudiante serio A SERIOUS STUDENT
Los amigos jóvenes THE YOUNG FRIENDS

25. Your Turn How would you say these phrases in Spanish? The big class
A tall boy
Some old men
The young woman

26. Your Turn How would you say these phrases in Spanish?
The big class LA CLASE GRANDE
A tall boy UN CHICO ALTO
Some old men UNOS HOMBRES VIEJOS
The young woman LA MUJER JOVEN

27. Ser
If you want to make a sentence describing someone with an adjective, you need the verb SER.
SINGULAR FORMS
PLURAL FORMS
Yo SOY
Nosotros/as SOMOS
Tú ERES
Vosotros/os SOIS
Él/ella/usted ES
Ellos/ellas/ustedes SON

28. Full Sentences
Use a form of ser and matching adjectives to make these sentences.
I am big.
She is tall.
We are old (m&f).
The girls are serious.

29. Full Sentences
Use a form of ser and matching adjectives to make these sentences.
I am big. YO SOY GRANDE.
She is tall. ELLA ES ALTA.
We are old (m&f). NOSOTROS SOMOS VIEJOS.
The girls are serious. LAS CHICAS SON SERIAS.