Holiday Greetings and a lesson about adjectives...
  • Anna December 2011
    At this time of the year we use a good amount of holiday greeting expressions almost everyday. Let's learn a few Holiday Greetings in Spanish:

    Feliz Navidad = Merry Christmas
    Feliz     Año Nuevo = Happy New Year

    Where the adjective "feliz"  stands for happy.


    Feliz (feminine vs masculine)

    The general rule in Spanish is that the adjective changes regarding each gender.

    - For female nouns adjectives will end in "a".
    - And, for male nouns adjectives will end in an "o".

    When you are the subject, adjectives reflect the gender.

    - Estoy cansada (I am tired) I = female
    - Estoy cansado (I am tired) I = male

    However there are many excepcions, such as the adjective feliz.

    There are a few adjectives that don't end in an "a" or an "o", so they stay the same

    for the male and feminine, such as feliz.

    - Ella es feliz
    - Él es feliz

    There are many others adjective with an unique form for both masculine and feminine. Here there are 3 very common ones:

    joven - young
    fuerte - strong
    triste - sad

    - La muchacha es joven. / The girl is young
    - El muchacho es joven. / The girl is young

    - El viento es muy fuerte. / The wind is very strong
    - La ola es muy fuerte. / the wave is very strong

    - María está triste. / María is sad
    - Pedro está triste. / Pedro is sad


    Feliz vs Felices (singular vs plural)

    The adjective "Feliz" does change is the subject is plural or singular.

    In singular we use "feliz"
    In plural we use "felices"

    - Les deseo una Feliz Navidad (Navidad is singular / Christmas)
    - Les deseo unas Felices Fiestas (Fiestas is plural / holidays)


    Go ahead and practice those simple Christmas Greetings when you have a chance. Is a good opportunity to practise the adjective feliz in singular and plural. Next time you will try to use the adjective feliz in another context you will remember the meaning and singular vs plural forms.

    ¡Felices Fiestas a todos los estudiantes de Español de Living Language!

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