Word order with adjectives - Easy Learning Grammar Spanish
- When adjectives are used right beside the noun they are describing, they go BEFORE it in English. Spanish adjectives usually go AFTER the noun.
| una corbata azul | a blue tie |
| una palabra española | a Spanish word |
| la página siguiente | the following page |
| la hora exacta | the precise time |
- When you have two or more adjectives after the noun, you use y (meaning and) between the last two.
| un hombre alto y delgado | a tall, slim man |
- A number of types of Spanish adjectives go BEFORE the noun:
- demonstrative adjectives
| este sombrero | this hat |
- possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su and so on)
| mi padre | my father |
- numbers
| tres días | three days |
- interrogative adjectives
| ¿qué hombre? | which man? |
- adjectives used in exclamations
| ¡Qué lástima! | What a pity! |
- indefinite adjectives
| cada día | every day |
- shortened adjectives
| mal tiempo | bad weather |
- Some adjectives can go both BEFORE and AFTER the noun, but their meaning changes depending on where they go.
| Adjective | Before Noun | Examples | After Noun | Examples |
| antiguo | former | un antiguo colega a former colleague | old, ancient | la historia antigua ancient history |
| diferente | various | diferentes idiomas various languages | different | personas diferentes different people |
| grande | great | un gran pintor a great painter | big | una casa grande a big house |
| medio | half | medio melón half a melon | average | la nota media the average mark |
| mismo | same | la misma respuesta the same answer | self, very, precisely | yo mismo myself eso mismo precisely that |
| nuevo | new | mi nuevo coche my new car (= new to me) | brand new | unos zapatos nuevos some (brand) new shoes |
| pobre | poor (=wretched) | esa pobre mujer that poor woman | poor (= not rich) | un país pobre a poor country |
| viejo | old (= long-standing) | un viejo amigo an old friend | old (= aged) | esas toallas viejas those old towels |
Grammar Extra!In Spanish, you can use el/la/uno/una with an adjective where in English you’d use the tall one, a red one and so on.
| La camiseta verde está bien pero prefiero la roja. | The green T-shirt is OK but I prefer the red one. |
| ¿Quieres una taza grande o una pequeña? | Would you like a big cup or a small one? |
| A él le gustan los edificios modernos pero yo prefiero los antiguos. | He likes modern buildings but I prefer old ones. |
- The adjective must agree with the noun it refers to.
Key points
PreviousNext - Most Spanish adjectives go after the noun.
- Certain types of adjectives in Spanish go before the noun.
- Some adjectives can go before or after the noun – the meaning changes according to the position in the sentence.