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Adjectives that shorten before a noun

In Spanish, a handful of very common adjectives and numbers drop a letter or a whole syllable when they are placed right in front of a noun. This linguistic quirk is called shortening. English has nothing quite like it, which is why learners often forget to shorten their words, resulting in typical mistakes like saying un bueno amigo instead of the correct un buen amigo.

While most Spanish adjectives come after the noun, words like bueno, malo, primero, and grande frequently come before it. When they do, you need to pay attention to the gender and number of the noun that follows to know if a trim is required.

Word list
buenmA1 good bueno → buen before a masculine singular noun buenomA1 good bueno → buen before a masculine singular noun cienA1 hundred ciento → cien before nouns granmA1 big grande → gran before singular nouns granmA1 great grande → gran before singular nouns grandeA1 big grande → gran before singular nouns malmA1 bad malo → mal before a masculine singular noun malomA1 bad malo → mal before a masculine singular noun primermA1 first primero → primer before a masculine singular noun primeromA1 first primero → primer before a masculine singular noun unoA1 one uno → un before a masculine noun tercermA2 third tercero → tercer before a masculine singular noun terceromA2 third tercero → tercer before a masculine singular noun veintiúnmA2 twenty-one veintiuno → veintiún before a masculine singular noun veintiunoA2 twenty-one veintiuno → veintiún before a masculine singular noun malomB1 evil malo → mal before a masculine singular noun santomB1 saint santo → san before most male saint names decimoprimeromB2 eleventh decimoprimero → decimoprimer before masculine nouns decimotercermB2 thirteenth decimotercero → decimotercer before masculine nouns decimoterceromB2 thirteenth decimotercero → decimotercer before masculine nouns malomB2 naughty malo → mal before a masculine singular noun vigésimo primermB2 twenty-first vigésimo primero → vigésimo primer before masculine nouns vigésimo primeromB2 twenty-first vigésimo primero → vigésimo primer before masculine nouns
Dropping the final -o

The most common rule applies to masculine singular nouns. If certain adjectives or numbers come directly before a masculine singular noun, they lose their final -o.

For instance, bueno becomes buen, and malo becomes mal. The number uno becomes un, and this also applies to numbers ending in one, like veintiuno, which becomes veintiún.

Él es un buen hombre.
(He is a good man.)
Ayer fue un mal día.
(Yesterday was a bad day.)
Tengo veintiún libros en mi casa.
(I have twenty-one books in my house.)

Ordinal numbers follow the exact same pattern. The word for first, primero, becomes primer, and tercero becomes tercer. This holds true for their compound forms as well, such as decimoprimero becoming decimoprimer.

Vivo en el tercer piso.
(I live on the third floor.)
Es mi primer coche.
(It is my first car.)

Other classic words that follow this masculine singular rule are alguno, which becomes algún, and ninguno, which becomes ningún.

Shortening before any singular noun

A few words shorten before any singular noun, regardless of whether it is masculine or feminine. The most famous example is grande. When placed before a singular noun, it drops its final syllable to become gran.

Es una gran idea.
(It is a great idea.)
Pablo Picasso fue un gran artista.
(Pablo Picasso was a great artist.)

Similarly, the word cualquiera shortens to cualquier before any singular noun. For numbers, the word ciento drops its final syllable to become cien when it sits directly before a noun of either gender.

Mi abuela tiene cien casas.
(My grandmother has one hundred houses.)
The special case of saints

The word santo has its own unique rule. It drops its final syllable to become san when it comes before the names of most male saints.

La iglesia de San Pedro es muy famosa.
(Saint Peter's church is very famous.)

There are a few rare exceptions, usually when the saint's name begins with To- or Do-, such as Santo Tomás or Santo Domingo, where the full word is kept.

Summary

When using common adjectives like bueno, malo, grande, or ordinal numbers like primero and tercero in front of a singular noun, remember to chop off the ending. Masculine nouns trigger the change for most of these words, while grande and cien shorten before both masculine and feminine nouns.