Importantes

Importantes is a Spanish adjective that means "important" and is used to describe nouns. It agrees in number and gender with the noun it modifies: for both masculine and feminine nouns in the plural it takes the form importantes (the singular form is importante for both genders). For example, un tema importante and temas importantes; una idea importante and ideas importantes.

The word is derived from Latin, from the participle importans of importare, a verb meaning to bring in or to concern. Over time, the sense shifted from “having value or consequence” to the more common notion of significance or priority in everyday usage.

Usage and nuances are straightforward in most contexts. Importantes can refer to facts, objects, people, or decisions that carry significance or weight within a given situation. It frequently appears in formal writing, journalism, education, and policy discussions, but is also common in everyday speech. In practice, it often appears with collocations such as factores importantes, decisiones importantes, aspectos importantes, or temas importantes.

Synonyms include relevantes, significativos, and decisivos, each carrying a slightly different shade: relevantes emphasizes relevance to a context, significativos highlights meaning or consequence, and decisivos points to critical importance or turning points. The choice among them depends on the intended nuance and register.