But how to know?

Question

I keep getting these questions wrong and I think it’s down to not being able to differentiate between whether a word is an adjective or a noun. Is there any way to tell of a word is a noun or an adjective without knowing the direct translation for that word?

Accepted Answer

Hola Jess
Most adjectives in the weather context end in -ado, which is a common ending for adjectives. That'll give you a clue (despejado, nublado, soleado)
Saludos

Answer

Hi Jess, I'm assuming that you are native English speaking from your post. If you live in the UK, it is unlikely that you were taught English Grammar properly at school, unless you happen to be very wealthy and went to one of those very expensive fee paying schools.

Not having attended Eton myself, I bought the book "English Grammar for Students of Spanish" by Emily Spinelli, it breaks down the English language and relates it to Spanish grammar, I found that this helped me a lot. Sadly the teaching of native English in many countries is very poor, it's not your fault if you don't know what a hanging preposition is...

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Great post/reply Paul...I concur! :)

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During my 17 years in Dubai, I tried to learn Arabic. My efforts were only partially successful [*!] - but I do remember being warned that the dividing line between nouns and adjectives in Arabic is nowhere near as clear-cut as it is in English. Sometimes I suspect that the same could be true in Spanish - such that certain Spanish adjectives are occasionally used as if they were nouns. Perhaps that "blurring" of definitions is [another] legacy from Spain's Arabic heritage?