Switching Places by Julie Gutin
In English, adjectives always precede the noun they modify, but the same is not necessarily true in Spanish. Generally, qualifying adjectives come after the noun and determinant adjectives appear before the noun:
cosas bonitas |
pretty things (qualifying adjective) |
otras cosas |
other things (determinant adjective) |
When a noun is modified by two kinds of adjectives, each adjective will stay in its designated place:
otras cosas bonitas |
other pretty things |
If both adjectives are qualifying adjectives, the two are connected with y (and):
cosas raras y bonitas |
rare and pretty things |
However, if you wish to emphasize one of the adjectives, drop the y and place the more important adjective last:
cosas raras bonitas |
rare things that are pretty |
cosas bonitas raras |
pretty things that are rare |
Moving It Up</h2>
<p>Sometimes a qualifying adjective may be moved to precede the noun it modifies. This is often the case when the adjective points to an inherent or obvious characteristic and may be thought of as part of a noun phrase, and it doesn't add any new information to the phrase:</p>
<table frame="all" width="100%">
<h2>
<tgroup cols="2">
<colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/>
<colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><p><B>el caliente sol</B></p></td>
<td><p>the hot sun</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>el triste lamento</B></p></td>
<td><p>the sad lament</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<div class="npsb">
<title> ESSENTIAL</h2>
<p>The following adjectives drop the final -o when they appear before the noun in the masculine/singular form: <B>bueno/buen</B> (good), <B>malo/mal</B> (bad), <B>primero/primer</B> (first), <B>tercero/tercer</B> (third), <B>alguno/algún</B> (some), <B>ninguno</B>/<B>ningún</B> (neither), <B>grande/gran</B> (big, great) <B>cualquiera/cualquier</B> (whichever).</p>
</div>
<p>However, if you wished to emphasize how hot the sun is or how sad the lament, you would move the adjective to the end: <B>el sol caliente, el lamento triste.</B> Adjectives indicating subjective judgment or describing abstract nouns may also be moved to precede the noun. This is especially true of <B>bueno, malo, mejor, peor, grande,</B> and <B>pequeño</B>:</p>
<table frame="all" width="100%">
<tgroup cols="2">
<colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/>
<colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><p><B>el pequeño pueblo</B></p></td>
<td><p>the small town</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>la mala suerte</B></p></td>
<td><p>bad luck</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<p>Some adjectives will have a slightly different meaning based on their location in relation to the noun. Eventually, you'll be able to sense the difference in meaning, but for now it might be useful to commit the following examples to memory:</p>
<table frame="all" width="100%">
<tgroup cols="3">
<colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/>
<colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/>
<colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="30%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><p><B>adjective</B></p></td>
<td><p><B>before the noun</B></p></td>
<td><p><B>after the noun</B></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>antiguo</B></p></td>
<td><p>former</p></td>
<td><p>ancient</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>cierto</B></p></td>
<td><p>some</p></td>
<td><p>true, certain</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>diferente(s)</B></p></td>
<td><p>various</p></td>
<td><p>different</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>gran(de)</B></p></td>
<td><p>great</p></td>
<td><p>big</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>medio</B></p></td>
<td><p>half</p></td>
<td><p>average</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>mismo</B></p></td>
<td><p>same</p></td>
<td><p>himself, itself</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>nuevo</B></p></td>
<td><p>new (another)</p></td>
<td><p>new (brand new)</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>pobre</B></p></td>
<td><p>poor (unlucky)</p></td>
<td><p>poor (without money)</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>puro</B></p></td>
<td><p>nothing but, just</p></td>
<td><p>pure</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>simple</B></p></td>
<td><p>just, simply</p></td>
<td><p>simple</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>único</B></p></td>
<td><p>only</p></td>
<td><p>unique</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
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