Adjective suffixes

Spanish rarely invents an adjective from nothing. Strip the suffix and the base word is sitting underneath. The ending -oso goes on a noun and means full of it, -able and -ible go on a verb and mean able to be done, -al and -ico mean relating to. One glance hands you half the meaning for free.

An -able or -ible adjective describes something the action can be done to: un error aceptable can be accepted. An -ante or -ente adjective describes something that does the action: una película sorprendente surprises you. Neither changes for gender: una idea aceptable, una noticia importante.

-ico, relating to, pulls the stress back a syllable, so every adjective built with it needs a written accent: historia gives histórico, economía gives económico. Its partners -al and -ar have one form for both genders (la copa mundial), while -ico and -ivo agree like any -o adjective (una chica deportiva).