📖LearnModule 1 · Lesson 24 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, first halfUnit 5 · My body, my pets
Grande y pequeño — the agreement pair
Module 1 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, first half), lesson 24 of 30: Adjectives in -o flip to -a for a feminine noun: pequeño/pequeña, like rojo/roja and contento/contenta. On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
grande
big
GRAHN-deh
pequeño
small (m)
peh-KEH-nyoh
pequeña
small (f)
peh-KEH-nyah
un perro grande
a big dog
oon PEH-rroh GRAHN-deh
una tortuga pequeña
a small turtle
OO-nah tohr-TOO-gah peh-KEH-nyah
la mesa es grande
the table is big
lah MEH-sah ehs GRAHN-deh
un gato pequeño
a small cat
oon GAH-toh peh-KEH-nyoh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La regla · The rule
Adjectives in -o flip to -a for a feminine noun: pequeño/pequeña, like rojo/roja and contento/contenta. Adjectives in -e or a consonant serve both genders: grande, verde, azul. This one pair carries the whole system.
Y también · And also
Size words follow the noun like colors do: un gato pequeño, una casa grande. Stack them with a color and both trail the noun: un perro grande y negro.
Ojo · Watch out
grande has ONE form for both genders: un perro grande, una casa grande. pequeño flips: un gato pequeño, una tortuga pequeña.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with grande.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 24 in Module 1 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.