46.8K
The word for “English” in Spanish is inglés, and to truly master its use, you’ll need to learn how it changes form when used as an adjective. The endings of inglés adapt according to the number and gender of the noun it modifies. This concept isn’t unique to inglés. Just like in English, many other important Spanish words function as both nouns and adjectives.
Using ‘English’ as a noun in Spanish
“English” can be used as a singular noun to refer to the language or as a plural noun to refer to people who live in England or the collective United Kingdom.
El inglés
El inglés is a masculine noun that refers to the language, and it’s never capitalized. There’s a handy grammatical gender rule in Spanish to help you remember that inglés is masculine: Nouns ending in -és are generally masculine in Spanish. So, for example, el francés (French) and el japonés (Japanese) are masculine nouns as well.
The Spanish accent mark over the “e” in inglés adds emphasis to ensure correct pronunciation by indicating that the stress falls on the final syllable.
Beyond its gender and pronunciation, you’ll often hear inglés used with estudiar (to study) and hablar (to speak), two common Spanish -AR verbs. Learning how to say “Do you speak English?” in Spanish and how to say “I don’t speak English” in Spanish are key phrases that beginner learners need to know.
- Ellas estudian inglés. = They are studying English.
- Mis padres no hablan inglés. = My parents do not speak English.
- ¿Habla usted inglés? = Do you speak English?
Los ingleses
The plural noun ingleses refers to people from England and is commonly used with the Spanish definite article los. You can use los ingleses to make general comments about the English people, but it’s important not to overgeneralize. For instance, as one ISEP survey revealed, not all British people are tea drinkers.
- Muchos ingleses tienen un sentido del humor seco. = Many English people have a dry sense of humor.
- A muchos ingleses les gusta viajar a España. = Many English people like to travel to Spain.
Using ‘English’ as an adjective in Spanish
In Spanish, “English” is frequently used as an adjective to describe someone’s nationality or something related to England or its culture. Like all Spanish adjectives, it changes its ending to agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies.
Unlike nationalities in the English language, inglés and other nationalities are not capitalized in Spanish.
Inglés
Use inglés to talk about a singular, masculine noun like English tea or a man from England.
- El té inglés es muy popular. = English tea is very popular.
- Conocí a un hombre inglés muy amable. = I met a very kind English man.
Inglesa
If you’ve studied French, Italian, or another Romance language, you may already be familiar with the concept of noun-adjective agreement. To talk about a feminine, singular noun, you’ll need to change inglés to inglesa.
For example:
- La oficial de aduanas inglesa le devolvió el pasaporte. = The English customs officer has returned his passport to him.
- Este libro trata de la cultura inglesa. = This book is about English culture.
Ingleses
When you need to describe a plural masculine noun, like a group of English students or English furniture, you’ll use ingleses.
- Los estudiantes ingleses organizaron una fiesta. = The English students organized a party.
- Compré unos muebles ingleses antiguos. = I bought some antique English furniture.
Inglesas
To talk about a plural feminine noun, such as English tourists or English traditions, you’ll use inglesas.
- Las turistas inglesas visitaron el museo. = The English tourists visited the museum.
- Aprendimos sobre las tradiciones inglesas. = We learned about English traditions.
