SPN2 U7 Using Adjectives as Nouns

​Opportunity for 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students:

Using Adjectives as Nouns

When you are comparing two similar things, you can avoid repetition by dropping the noun and using an article with an adjective:

• ¿Cuál prefieres, la sudadera apretada o la floja?- "Which do you prefer, the tight sweatshirt or the loose one?"

• Prefiero la floja.- "I prefer the loose one."

You can also do this with expressions that use de:

• ¿Compraste una chaqueta de lana o una de cuero?- "Did you buy a wool jacket or a leather one?"

• ¿Prefieres el abrigo de Paco o el de Juan?- "Do you prefer Paco's coat or Juan's?"

When you use adjectives as nouns, you drop the noun that was mentioned in the original sentence. The adjective then uses the appropriate article in order to serve as the noun.

The article must agree in gender and in number with the adjective. In the example to the right, flojo is masculine and singular and uses the masculine and singular article el to be used as a noun.