As we already know, adjectives, that is, those that qualify a name (noun) agree in gender and number with it. In the Spanish language there is a group of adjectives, which when they are faced with a masculine or feminine noun, whether it is singular or plural, they lose their sound at the end of the word, this sound refers to the final letter or syllable. This phenomenon is called apocalypse. Thus, the apocope occurs in the following cases:
The) When the possessive pronouns mío (s), mía (s), tuyo (s), tuya (s), suyo (s), suya (a) are used in front of any masculine or feminine noun, singular or plural.
They will be written in the apocalypse form: mi(s), you(s) and su(s).
| Mi book is that blue one. | My book is the blue one. |
| you glasses are sucias. | Your glasses are dirty. |
| You friend is very nice. | Your friend is very beautiful. |
| sus priests are friendly. | Your parents are friendly. |
B) The words, “greatin” and “anyThe” suffer apocope, losing, respectively, the final syllable and the final letter, whenever they come before a masculine or feminine noun, but only in the singular. It is important to remember that apocalypse will not occur when the word “great” is preceded by the adverbs “bad” or “less”.
| Let's avoid one big scandal. | let's avoid one great scandal. |
| we can sit in whatever table. | we can sit on any table. |
| You are home more great that ya visité. | And the bigger house I have already visited. |
ç) The apocope is also used in the cardinal numeral “cienI'm”, which loses the final syllable when it comes before a plural masculine or feminine noun.
| This animal weighs more than science kilos. | This animal weighs more than hundred kilos. |
| hay more of science people in the party. | There are more than hundred people at the party. |
d) With the words “primerO” and “thirdO, " goodO" and badO”, “someO” and “nobodyO” the final letter is lost in front of a singular masculine noun. And “ninguno” when losing the letter “o” will receive a graphic accent: “ningún”, (for further clarification on the accents in Spanish see the text “the accent”).
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Although they do not follow the general rule, there are some cases (exceptions) in which these words may come in front of a feminine noun. Its use is not always recommended, so we will not include examples.
| Juan llegó en primer place. | John arrived in first place. |
| it's sunday is a good morning to walk around. | Sunday is a well day for sightseeing. |
| some morning Come back to visit. | Some day I will visit you again. |
| in tengo nobody resource now. | I do not have none feature now. |
and) The word, “Santo”, in Spanish, also loses the final syllable in front of a male name, being used as “san”. With the exception of feminine words and words that start with "I'm" and "of” such as: “Santo Domingo, Santo Tomé, Santo Tomás and Santo Toribio”.
| I always participate in the fiestas of san Juan | I always participate in the parties of They are João. |
| hello that san Peter send rain. | hopefully They are Peter send rain. |
| today is the day of Santa Teresa. | Today is Santa Teresa. |
| Let's pray to Holy Toribio. | let's pray for They are Toribio. |
f) In front of a plural masculine noun, or the word "thousand”, the numerals composed of “uno” lose the final vowel “o”: veintione, thirty and oneO, cuarenta y unO, etc. We can also find cases where the numeral “one” becomes feminine before the word “thousand” in agreement with the posterior noun, also feminine. See the examples:
| I have twenty-one years old. | Have twenty-one years old. |
| the carriage cuesta forty and one thousand reais. | the car costs Forty-one thousand reais. |
| Payon trey unite a thousand pesetas for the trip. | paid thirty one a thousand pesetas for the trip. |
Besides the apocopes of adjectives, which you have just learned, there are some that occur in words from other grammatical classes, but these will be mentioned in other texts.
Rosana Beatriz Garrasini Sellanes
Brazil School Collaborator
Degree in Letters – Portuguese and Spanish by the Catholic University of Goiás – PUC/GO
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SELLANES, Rosana Beatriz Garrasini. "La Apocope in Español"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/espanhol/apocope.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
