This cheat sheet helps students name common colors, shapes, and sizes in Spanish. It gives young learners quick words and sentence patterns they can use to describe objects. Students need this reference because Spanish describing words often change to match the thing they describe.
The page is organized into three clear sections: Colores, Figuras, and Tamaños.
The most important idea is that many Spanish adjectives come after the noun, such as círculo rojo for red circle. Many color and size words change for masculine or feminine nouns, like rojo, roja, grande, and pequeño. Students also practice simple patterns such as Es un... and Es una... to say what something is.
These patterns help students speak and write short, correct Spanish descriptions.
Key Facts
- Color words include rojo for red, azul for blue, amarillo for yellow, verde for green, negro for black, blanco for white, morado for purple, and anaranjado for orange.
- Shape words include círculo for circle, cuadrado for square, triángulo for triangle, rectángulo for rectangle, estrella for star, and óvalo for oval.
- Size words include grande for big, pequeño or pequeña for small, alto or alta for tall, bajo or baja for short, largo or larga for long, and corto or corta for short in length.
- In Spanish, many describing words come after the noun, so red circle is círculo rojo and big square is cuadrado grande.
- Use un before many masculine nouns, such as un círculo, un cuadrado, and un triángulo.
- Use una before many feminine nouns, such as una estrella and una figura.
- Many adjectives must match the noun in gender, so a white circle is un círculo blanco and a white star is una estrella blanca.
- The sentence pattern Es un... or Es una... means It is a..., as in Es un triángulo verde and Es una estrella amarilla.
Vocabulary
- Color
- A color is a word that tells what something looks like, such as rojo, azul, or verde.
- Figura
- Figura means shape or figure, such as círculo, cuadrado, or triángulo.
- Tamaño
- Tamaño means size, such as grande for big or pequeño for small.
- Adjetivo
- An adjetivo is a describing word that tells more about a noun, such as rojo or grande.
- Sustantivo
- A sustantivo is a noun, which names a person, place, thing, or idea.
- Concordancia
- Concordancia means agreement, when an adjective matches the noun in gender or number.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Putting the color before the noun is a common mistake because Spanish usually places color words after the noun. Say círculo rojo, not rojo círculo.
- Forgetting adjective agreement is a common mistake because some Spanish adjectives change endings. Say estrella blanca for a white star, not estrella blanco.
- Using un with every noun is a common mistake because some nouns use una. Say una estrella, not un estrella.
- Confusing pequeño and pequeña is a common mistake because the ending should match the noun. Say un cuadrado pequeño and una estrella pequeña.
- Mixing up shape and size words is a common mistake because both can describe objects. Círculo names the shape, while grande tells the size.
Practice Questions
- 1 Translate into Spanish: a red circle.
- 2 Translate into Spanish: a small yellow star.
- 3 Write a Spanish sentence for: It is a big green triangle.
- 4 Explain why una estrella blanca is correct but una estrella blanco is not correct.