Español — apocope (apócope)

Some Spanish adjectives lose their final vowel or syllable when they stand right before the noun. This shortening is called apocope.

How it works

✓ Rule

Several adjectives drop the final -o before a masculine singular noun: bueno→buen, malo→mal, primero→primer, tercero→tercer, uno→un, alguno→algún, ninguno→ningún. The adjective grande shortens to gran before any singular noun, masculine or feminine.

Examples

Full and apocopated forms
Full	Apocopated	Example
bueno	buen	un buen amigo
primero	primer	el primer día
alguno	algún	algún problema
grande	gran	una gran idea

Good to know

⚠ Note

Apocope happens only before the noun (un buen libro); after the noun the full form stays (un libro bueno). Note also that gran before the noun means "great" (un gran hombre), while grande after the noun means "big" (un hombre grande).