7.2. Agreement: Types of Adjectives ✅

7.2.1. Type 1: Agrees in Gender and Quantity (Completely Variable)

The majority of adjectives in Neolatin are variable in both gender and quantity to agree with the noun it modifies. The rules for agreement are similar to nouns. In general, adjectives that end in -o are masculine and adjectives that end in -a are feminine, each being made plural with the addition of -s at the end of the adjective to agree with the noun.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	bòno	bònos
Feminine	bòna	bònas

Lo hòmene èst alto.	The man is tall.
Los libros son bònos.	The books are good.
La casa rossa.	The red house.
Las fémenas son bèllas.	The women are beautiful.
La bandaria francesa.	The French flag.

7.2.2. Type 2: Agrees Only in Quantity (Semi-Invariable)

These adjectives agree only with the quantity of the noun it modifies. Their singular forms are the same for both masculine and feminine forms, only changing in the plural form with the addition of -s at the end of the adjective. This applies to most adjectives that end in -e (ex: suffixes like -e, -are, -ale, -ile, -ante, -ènte, -íbile and -àbile) or -ista.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	grande	grandes
Feminine	grande	grandes

Una idèa interessante.	An interesting idea.
La puèlla felice.	The happy girl.
Las pènnas son útiles.	Pens are useful.
Las casas son grandes.	The houses are big.
Los hòmenes optimistas.	The optimistic men.

Adjectives that end in -e can optionally have a feminine form ending in -a, like in Occitan. In this manner, the adjective would behave as a completely variable adjective (type 1). However, the majority of Romance languages do not do this.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	grande	grandes
Feminine	granda	grandas

Una idèa interessanta.	An interesting idea.
Las pènnas son útilas.	Pens are useful.
Las casas son grandas.	The houses are big.

7.2.3. Type 3: Never Changes (Invariable)

This type of adjective always has the same form, regardless of the gender or quantity of the noun it modifies. There are not many adjectives of this type.

Colors

Some adjectives of this type are colors.

Some of these individual colors are generally invariable across Romance languages, while they are variable in other languages.

Adjective	Translation	Notes
Índigo	Indigo
Safran	Saffron
Lilà	Lilac
Esmeralda	Emerald
Crèma/Colore crèma	Cream
Beige	Beige	Invariable in most languages. Variable in French.
Turchesa	Turquoise	Invariable in most languages. Variable in Italian.
Narancîa	Orange	Invariable in Portuguese, Spanish and French.
Carmesí	Crimson	Invariable in Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan.
Ròsa	Pink / Rose	Invariable in Italian and Portuguese.
Blavo / Blu / Azuro	Blue	The form "blu" is invariable in Italian. However, the inherited word "blavo" is the preferred word and is completely variable in Neolatin.
Viòla / Violàceo	Purple / Violet	"Viòla" is invariable in Italian. However, "violàceo" is an alternative that is officially recommended and is completely variable.

There are two ways of circumventing these inconsistencies:

1. Use the adjectival phrase "colore [adjective]" or "de colore [adjective] (ex: camisîas de colore narancîa, "the orange-colored shirts"). A noun that has an associated color also works with this construction.

2. Simply treat as if they were variable like type 1 or type 2 adjectives (ex: camisîas narancîas).

If the color is a compound adjective (ex: light blue, dark blue), it is usually invariable in Romance languages (except for Portuguese and uncommonly in Spanish). The construction is composed of the color followed by the qualifying adjective "claro" (light) or "oscuro" (dark).

Una camisîa blavo claro.	A light blue shirt.
Una camisîa blavo oscuro.	A dark blue shirt.
Alcunas camisîas blavo claro.	Some light blue shirts.
Alcunas camisîas blavo oscuro.	Some dark blue shirts.

Romance Words (Inherited and Borrowed)

Adjective	Translation	Translation
Clave	Key	Invariable in most languages. Variable in French.
Modèllo	Model	Invariable in most languages. Variable in French.
Fémena	Female	Invariable in Spanish and Italian.

Loanwords

Loanswords, be they from Latin, other languages or brand names are also invariable.

There are various notable types.

Individual Words From Latin

Adjective	Translation	Notes
Bonus	Bonus
Gratis	Gratis (free of charge)
Extra	Extra	Variable in French

Phrases From Latin

Ad hoc
A priori

Words From English

Adjective	Translation
Stàndarde	Standard
Random	Random (unexpected)
Sexy	Sexy
Troll	Troll
Snob	Snobby
Top	Top (best)

Miscellaneous Loanwords

Adjective	Translation	Notes
Chic	Chic
Kitsch	Kitsch
Tabú	Taboo	Variable in French.

Musical Genres

Pop
Punk
Rock

Brand Names

Nintendo
Facebook
Microsoft
Discord

Nationalities or Origins

Very few nationalities or adjectives of origin are invariable.

Adjective	Translation	Notes
Inuit	Inuit	Variable in Portuguese, Occitan and French. Invariable in others.
Bantu	Bantu	Variable in Spanish and French. Invariable in others.
Hindú	Hindu	Variable in Italian. Invariable in others.

Examples

General Examples

Los pontos clave	The key points
La pràctica tabú	The taboo practice
Lo mètodo stàndarde	The standard method
Ella èst una studiante modèllo.	She is a model student.
Las portiones extra	The extra portions
Libros gratis / Libros gratuitos	Free books
La fémena snob	The snobby woman
Los vestitos chic	The chic clothes
Una pista bonus	A bonus track

Relational Adjectives

If the invariable adjective is relational (like a musical genre or a brand for a platform), Iberian languages (Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan) tend to put the preposition "de" in the noun phrase between the noun and the adjective. In contrast, other languages put the adjective directly next to the noun.

Jòcos Nintendo / Jòcos de Nintendo	Nintendo games
Cantsones rock / Cantsones de rock	Rock songs
Lo servitore Discord / Lo servitore de Discord	The Discord server
Lo gruppo Facebook / Lo gruppo en Facebook	The Facebook group