Negative Form of Positive Adjectives

Adjectives are words that usually describe the subject of the sentence (they can also complement adverbs or other adjectives). In Spanish, there are some prefixes that can change a positive adjective to a negative one. This is an excellent, simple way to learn new vocabulary.

Some adjectives of positive degrees can be turned into those of negative degree by adding a prefix. Prefixes are grammatical elements that are placed before a word and modify its meaning or part of speech.

The following guidelines were created based on the frequency with which they occur. However, keep in mind that they are not grammatical rules per se, so you will find a lot of exceptions as well.

Adjectives Beginning with Vowels and Consonants

The first group is more general, including words that begin with either a vowel or a consonant, and can take any of the following prefixes for their negative form.

Rule 1. It is very common for both adjectives beginning with a vowel or consonant to take the prefix des- to become negative.

Here are some examples:

Rule 2. It is also common but less frequent to see the prefix in- in negative forms.

The second group is a little more specific, since the negative prefix used tends to depend on the first letter of the adjective.

Adjectives Beginning with V

Rule 3. Many adjectives beginning with the letter v are prefixed with in- to make them negative.

Here are some examples:

Adjectives beginning with L

Rule 4. Some adjectives beginning with the letter l are prefixed with i- to make them negative.

Here are some examples:

Adjectives Beginning with R

Rule 5. Some adjectives beginning with the letter r are prefixed with ir- to make them negative.

Here are some examples: