There’s no question that the sky is blue, no matter what language you’re speaking.<\/p>\n
But is it a “blue sky” or a “sky blue?”<\/p>\n
In English, adjectives come before nouns. In Spanish, they come after.<\/strong><\/p>\n This post will teach you everything you need about Spanish adjective placement so you can construct grammatically correct, native-sounding sentences.<\/p>\n [fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The formula for using adjectives in a sentence is very simple in Spanish:<\/p>\n Noun + Adjective<\/strong><\/p>\n In other words, you need to place the adjective after the noun it modifies.<\/p>\n I know it’s weird for English speakers, but once you practice a little, you’ll pick up the rule in no time.<\/p>\n Instead of a “blue<\/strong> car,” you’ll have a “car blue.”<\/strong> It’s almost poetic, isn’t it?<\/p>\n Here are some examples of Spanish sentences with adjectives:<\/p>\n Al cachorrito marr\u00f3n<\/strong> le gusta a comer salchichas picantes.<\/strong><\/em> (The brown<\/strong> puppy likes to eat spicy<\/strong> sausages.<\/strong>)<\/p>\n Mi computadora portable<\/strong>\u00a0est\u00e1 vieja.<\/i> (My portable<\/strong> computer is old.)<\/p>\n Me gustan gorras escocesas<\/strong>\u00a0con purpurina plateada.<\/strong><\/em> (I like plaid<\/strong> hats with silver<\/strong> glitter.)<\/p>\n Did you think that there wouldn’t be any exceptions to this rule?<\/p>\n That would be the case in a perfect world, but no language is perfect.<\/p>\n In some cases, adjectives go before the modified nouns (like in English).\u00a0<\/strong>Here are the scenarios where you put the adjective first:<\/p>\n Proper nouns are the specific names of nouns (people, places and things), like Miguel Cervantes, Salvador Dal\u00ed and Jorge Gutierrez.<\/p>\n El\u00a0creativo Jorge Gutierrez<\/strong> se especializa en pel\u00edculas animadas.<\/i> (The creative Jorge Gutierrez specializes in animated movies.)<\/p>\n You can’t have more than one state bird, president, nose, heart, etc.<\/p>\n El \u00e1rido<\/strong> y fr\u00edo Plut\u00f3n<\/strong> ya no es una planeta.<\/em> (The barren and cold Pluto is not a planet anymore.)<\/p>\n For example, snow is always white, water is always wet and the sky is always blue.<\/p>\n La brillante estrella<\/strong> es conocida como Sirius o “la estrella del perro.”<\/em> (The bright star is called Sirius or “the dog star.”)<\/p>\n Or in other words, when you know the specific noun the adjective is referencing.<\/p>\n El travieso perro<\/strong> del cuento se comi\u00f3 la tarea<\/em>\u00a0importante.<\/i> (The naughty dog from the story ate the important homework.)<\/p>\n Sometimes, an adjective can mean more than one thing, depending on if it comes before or after its noun. Here are ten examples of this with some of the most common Spanish adjectives:<\/p>\n 1. Grande\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: “great” or “important”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: \u00c9l es un gran<\/strong> amigo<\/span>. <\/em> (He is a great<\/strong> friend.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: “big” or “large”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: La casa es grande<\/strong>.<\/span><\/em> \u00a0(The house is big<\/strong>.)<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Nuevo\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: “brand new”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Tengo un nuevo<\/strong> coche. <\/span><\/em> (I have a brand new<\/strong> car.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: “new to me” or “recently acquired”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: He comprado un coche nuevo<\/strong>.<\/span> <\/em>\u00a0(I have bought a new<\/strong> car.)<\/span><\/p>\n 3. Viejo\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: “former” or “previous”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Mi viejo<\/strong> jefe era muy exigente. <\/span><\/em> (My former<\/strong> boss was very demanding.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: “old” or “aged”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Mi abuela tiene un gato viejo<\/strong>.<\/span><\/em> \u00a0(My grandmother has an old<\/strong> cat.)<\/span><\/p>\n 4. Pobre<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: “unfortunate” or “pitiful”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: El pobre<\/strong> hombre no tiene trabajo.<\/em><\/span> (The poor<\/strong> man has no job.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: “poor” or “having little money”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: La familia vive en una casa muy pobre<\/strong>.<\/em><\/span> (The family lives in a very poor<\/strong> house.)<\/span><\/p>\n 5. Mismo\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: “exact” or “identical”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Necesito el mismo<\/strong> vestido que llev\u00e9 ayer.<\/em><\/span> (I need the same<\/strong> dress I wore yesterday.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: “himself” or “herself”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Ella lo hizo ella misma<\/strong>.<\/em><\/span> \u00a0(She did it herself<\/strong>.)<\/span><\/p>\n 6. Bueno<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: “kind” or “generous”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: \u00c9l es un buen<\/strong> hombre.<\/em> <\/span> (He is a kind<\/strong> man.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: “good” or “competent”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Es<\/em>\u00a0un doctor muy bueno<\/strong>.<\/em> <\/span> (He is a very good<\/strong> doctor.)<\/span><\/p>\n 7. Malo<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: \u201cevil” or “wicked”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Es un malo<\/strong> hombre.<\/em><\/span> \u00a0(He’s an evil<\/strong> man.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: “poor quality” or “not good”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Tengo un ojo malo<\/strong>.<\/em> <\/span> (I have a bad<\/strong> eye.)<\/span><\/p>\n 8. Propio<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: “own”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Tengo mi propio<\/strong> coche.<\/em><\/span> (I have my own<\/strong> car.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: “appropriate” or “fitting”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Es el lugar propio<\/strong> para celebrar una boda.<\/em><\/span> \u00a0(It’s the appropriate<\/strong> place to celebrate a wedding.)<\/span><\/p>\n 9. \u00danico<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: “only” or “sole”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Este es el \u00fanico<\/strong> libro que tengo. <\/em><\/span> (This is the only<\/strong> book I have.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: “unique” or “one of a kind”<\/span><\/p>\n Example: Compr\u00f3 la pintura \u00fanica<\/strong><\/em><\/span>. <\/em> (He bought the unique<\/strong> painting.)<\/span><\/p>\n 10. Primero<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before the noun: “first\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Example: \u00c9l es el primer<\/strong> hombre en llegar. <\/em><\/span>\u00a0(He’s the first<\/strong> man to arrive.)<\/span><\/p>\n After the noun: \u201cmain\u201d or \u201cprimary\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Example: La<\/em> raz\u00f3n primera<\/strong>\u00a0es el dinero.\u00a0<\/em><\/span> (The primary<\/strong>\u00a0reason is money.)<\/span><\/p>\n Spanish possessives<\/a> depict ownership, like “mine” and “yours,” and act as adjectives because they describe ownership\u00a0of items.<\/p>\n Su pelo<\/strong> es muy bonito.<\/em> (Her hair is very pretty.)<\/p>\n Spanish demonstratives<\/a> are words like “this,” that” and “those.” They come before a noun when used as an adjective but replace the noun when used as a pronoun.<\/p>\n Esta casa<\/strong> es muy cara.<\/em> (This house is very expensive.)<\/p>\n Determiners are small words that come before nouns and determine their meaning, the two most common types being definite articles<\/a> (el, la<\/em>, los, las<\/em>) and indefinite articles<\/a> (un, una,<\/em> unos, unas<\/em>).<\/p>\n Me gusta las manzanas<\/strong> verdes.<\/em> (I like the green apples.)<\/p>\n Quiere The Formula for Spanish Adjective Placement in Sentences<\/h2>\n
Exceptions to the Spanish Adjective Placement Formula<\/h2>\n
Proper nouns<\/h3>\n
Nouns or relations that we only have one of<\/h3>\n
Inherent qualities of nouns or adjectives that always associate with a noun<\/h3>\n
Adjectives referring to a specific noun<\/h3>\n
Adjectives Which Change Their Meaning Based on Placement\u00a0<\/h3>\n
Possessives<\/h3>\n
Demonstratives<\/h3>\n
Determiners<\/h3>\n