Adjectives, as you may have learned from grade school, is describing a noun which is a person, a place, or a thing. We use adjectives every day. You can’t get by without them. They are an important part of every day speech.
The main rule for adjectives in Spanish is to have them follow the item (person, place or thing) that it is describing. For example, the beautiful house would be the house beautiful if translated to English from Spanish. Of course, the number and gender of the noun will follow in the adjective that you use. Los árboles altos is a good example of that. Notice that altos ends with an –o to signify the masculine noun as well as an –s to show that it is plural.
Did you know that adjectives can change in meaning if placed in front of the noun it is describing?
Yes, this is true. Take the following examples:
- El muchacho bueno means the good guy (in a more noble sense), but…
- El buen muchacho means the decent guy (which could mean he’s a “simple character” too).
- La cosa cierta means the right thing (in the “true” or “correct” sense of the word), but…
- La cierta cosa means the specific thing as in all of the things I’m talking about, this certain thing is what I am referring to right now.
But check out this example:
- El vecino viejo means the old neighbor (such as a “dear” or “precious” or “a good friend” neighbor), but…
- El viejo vecino means the old neighbor as in the neighbor is actually physically old.
- La casa nueva means the new house (as in the house I just bought is new to me), but…
- La nueva casa means the new house (as in I just had this house built and I am the first occupant of this house, it is brand, spanking new).
As you can see, the location of your adjectives in Spanish can have very different understandings and depths to what you want to express. As always, if you have questions or would like some clarification to what I have posted, please email me at SpanishMyWay@hotmail.com. I would be happy to help you out. Until next week, ¡hasta luego!
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