An action can go badly, while a thing can be bad.

The idea

Mal describes an action. The adjective malo agrees with its noun; before a singular masculine noun it becomes mal.

Patterns to compare
FormaUso
maladverbio: canta mal; adjetivo antes de sustantivo masculino singular: mal día
malo / mala / malos / malasadjetivo: resultado malo, sopa mala, días malos, noticias malas

Examples

  • El músico canta mal.The musician sings badly.
  • La sopa está mala.The soup has gone bad.
  • Dormimos mal por el ruido.We sleep badly because of the noise.
  • Es un mal día para viajar.It is a bad day to travel.
  • Las carreteras son malas en invierno.The roads are bad in winter.
  • Tu hermano cocina mal el arroz.Your brother cooks rice badly.
  • El resultado fue malo.The result was bad.

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Watch out

Do not use malo to describe how someone sings, or mal after a noun.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the correct form. La niña escribe ___ en la pizarra. (mal / malo)

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    mal

    mal: it describes how the child writes.

  2. Choose the correct form. Es un ___ momento para llamar. (mal / malo)

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    mal

    mal: it comes before a singular masculine noun.

  3. Choose the correct form. El café está ___. (mal / malo)

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    malo

    malo: it describes the masculine noun coffee after the verb.

  4. Choose the correct form. Son noticias ___. (mal / malas)

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    malas

    malas: it agrees with the feminine plural noun news.

Use it today

Choose the form that fits each sentence.