ABSTRACT
At t r ibu t ive adjectives i n Ca ta lan agree in gender wi th the head of the noun phrase they appear i n (expressed or understood): la meva estimada muller 'my (/.) dear (/.) wife (/.) ' . Predicative adjectives agree with their subject noun phrase: Aquelles taronges no son pas madures 'Those (f.pl.) oranges (f.pl.) are not ripe {/>/.)'. M o s t adjectives have distinct forms for masculine and feminine, in the s ingular at least, and are referred to here as 'adjectives with two endings' . There is no direct relation between word ending and gender, a l though it is true that consonant endings and -e/-o endings tend to represent the masculine, while -a tends to represent the feminine. Except ions to this ' rule ' are so many (see 4.1.2) that it cannot be taken for granted. Adjectives showing no d is t inc t ion between the masculine singular and feminine singular form are referred to as 'adjectives wi th one ending ' . O u r ma in discussion o f morpho logy (4.1.1-3) concentrates o n this dis t inct ion between singular adjectives w i t h one and wi th two endings; formation o f p lu ra l adjectives is covered i n 4.1.4.
