A1 to A2 · Updated
Spanish adjective position: before or after the noun
Most Spanish adjectives go after the noun: un coche rojo. A few go before, and some change their meaning depending on where they sit. Un gran hombre and un hombre grande are not the same man.
The short answer
Describing adjectives go after the noun: una casa blanca. Numbers, quantities and determiners go before: dos casas, mucha gente, otra vez. Bueno, malo and grande shorten before a noun: buen día, gran ciudad. A few change meaning with position: un viejo amigo is an old friend, un amigo viejo an elderly one.
How to remember it
After to describe, before to count or to feel
| After the noun | colour, shape, nationality, most adjectives | Un vino español |
|---|---|---|
| Before the noun | numbers, mucho, poco, otro, cada | Muchos amigos |
| Shortened before | buen, mal, gran, primer, tercer | Un buen libro |
| Change of meaning | grande, viejo, nuevo, pobre, único | Un pobre hombre |
| Before for effect | an opinion rather than a fact | Una preciosa playa |
The forms
Adjectives that change meaning
| adjective | before the noun | after the noun |
|---|---|---|
| grande | un gran hombre, a great man | un hombre grande, a big man |
| viejo | un viejo amigo, a long-standing friend | un amigo viejo, an elderly friend |
| nuevo | un nuevo coche, another car | un coche nuevo, a brand-new car |
| pobre | un pobre hombre, an unlucky man | un hombre pobre, a man with no money |
| único | mi único hijo, my only son | un hijo único, an only child |
| mismo | el mismo día, the same day | el rey mismo, the king himself |
16 sentences that show the difference
Everyday Spanish, the kind you would actually say. The label under each one says which part of the rule it shows.
Una camisa blanca.
A white shirt.
Colour, after
Comida italiana.
Italian food.
Nationality, after
Una mesa redonda.
A round table.
Shape, after
Tres cervezas.
Three beers.
Number, before
Mucha gente.
A lot of people.
Quantity, before
Otro día.
Another day.
Otro, before
Un buen restaurante.
A good restaurant.
Bueno shortens
Un restaurante bueno.
A good restaurant.
After also works
Hace mal tiempo.
The weather is bad.
Malo shortens
Madrid es una gran ciudad.
Madrid is a great city.
Gran, great
Una ciudad grande.
A big city.
Grande, big
Es un viejo amigo.
He is an old friend.
Viejo before
¡Pobre chico!
Poor boy!
Pobre, unlucky
El primer día.
The first day.
Primero shortens
Una buena idea.
A good idea.
Buena does not shorten
Un coche nuevo y rápido.
A new, fast car.
Two adjectives, y
Where English gets in the way
English puts adjectives before the noun almost always: a red car. Spanish puts them after by default, un coche rojo, and saves the position before the noun for counting words and for an emotional or subjective nuance. English can stack adjectives freely, a big black dog, where Spanish joins them: un perro grande y negro.
The mistake to avoid
Un rojo coche and una española chica, copying English order. Colour and nationality always go after: un coche rojo, una chica española.
The cases that break the rule
Buen, mal
Bueno and malo lose the -o before a masculine singular noun: buen tiempo, mal día. The feminine and plural do not shorten: buena persona, buenos días.
Gran
Grande becomes gran before any singular noun, masculine or feminine: gran día, gran ciudad. And before the noun it means great, not big.
Un nuevo coche
Before the noun, nuevo means another or a different one, possibly second hand. After, brand new. The same pattern explains viejo, pobre and único.
Una preciosa playa
Putting a describing adjective before the noun makes it sound subjective or literary: una preciosa playa, las blancas paredes. It is common in writing and adverts, and not wrong.
Primer, tercer
Primero and tercero shorten before a masculine singular noun: el primer piso, el tercer día. Primera and tercera never do.
Rojo y grande
Two describing adjectives after the noun are joined with y, or separated with a comma: un perro grande y negro. Spanish does not stack them without a link the way English does.
Adjective position exercises
8 sentences to fill in. Type your answer and check it, or read them straight through with the answers showing. Accents count here, the way they count in the language.
-
Tengo un coche ___. (rojo)
I have a red car.
rojo · Colour goes after the noun.
-
Hoy hace ___ tiempo. (bueno)
The weather is good today.
buen · Bueno shortens to buen before a masculine singular noun.
-
Barcelona es una ___ ciudad. (grande, great)
Barcelona is a great city.
gran · Gran before any singular noun, meaning great.
-
Vivo en el ___ piso. (primero)
I live on the first floor.
primer · Primero shortens before a masculine singular noun.
-
Es una ___ idea. (bueno)
It is a good idea.
buena · The feminine never shortens.
-
Me gusta la comida ___. (mexicano)
I like Mexican food.
mexicana · Nationality after the noun, agreeing in the feminine.
-
Juan es un ___ amigo. Nos conocemos desde niños. (viejo)
Juan is an old friend. We have known each other since we were children.
viejo · Before the noun, viejo means long-standing, not elderly.
-
Hoy es un ___ día. (malo)
Today is a bad day.
mal · Malo shortens to mal before a masculine singular noun.
More exercises, from Don Quixote
8 more, these ones straight out of the course: the inn, the windmills, Rocinante and the road. Same rule, older Spanish.
-
Don Quijote es un ___ caballero. (grande, great)
Don Quixote is a great knight.
gran · Gran before the noun, great.
-
Rocinante es un caballo ___. (flaco)
Rocinante is a skinny horse.
flaco · A description, after the noun.
-
Sancho es un ___ hombre. (bueno)
Sancho is a good man.
buen · Buen before a masculine singular noun.
-
Es la ___ salida de don Quijote. (primero)
It is Don Quixote's first outing.
primera · Primera, feminine, does not shorten.
-
¡___ Sancho! Siempre recibe los golpes. (pobre)
Poor Sancho! He always gets the beatings.
Pobre · Pobre before the name, unlucky.
-
Los molinos son gigantes ___, dice don Quijote. (enorme)
The windmills are enormous giants, says Don Quixote.
enormes · A description, after the noun.
-
Llega a la venta con ___ hambre. (mucho)
He reaches the inn very hungry.
mucha · Quantity before the noun.
-
Lleva una armadura ___. (viejo)
He wears an old suit of armour.
vieja · Old in years, after the noun.
Common questions
Do adjectives go before or after the noun in Spanish?
Usually after: una casa grande, un libro interesante. Numbers, quantities and a few common adjectives go before.
Why is it buen día and not bueno día?
Bueno loses the -o before a masculine singular noun. So do malo, primero, tercero, alguno and ninguno: mal día, ningún problema.
What is the difference between gran and grande?
Gran, before the noun, means great or important. Grande, after the noun, means big. Un gran escritor, una casa grande.
Can I put any adjective before the noun?
Many, yes, for style: una maravillosa noche. It sounds more emotional or literary. Colour and nationality almost never go before.
What does un viejo amigo mean?
A friend you have had for a long time. Un amigo viejo is a friend who is old.
How do I use two adjectives in Spanish?
After the noun, joined with y: una ciudad bonita y tranquila. Or one before and one after: un buen vino tinto.
Is it buen persona or buena persona?
Buena persona. Only the masculine singular shortens.
Where do mucho and poco go?
Before the noun, and they agree with it: mucha agua, pocos días.
The things to remember
- Describing adjectives normally go after the noun.
- Numbers, quantities, otro and cada go before.
- Bueno, malo, primero and tercero shorten before a masculine singular noun.
- Grande becomes gran before any singular noun and means great.
- Viejo, nuevo, pobre and único change meaning with their position.
The book this comes from
Don Quixote in Easy Spanish: the whole novel retold in Spanish you can actually read, in 58 short episodes, with the hard words glossed in the margin. It is where every Don Quixote sentence on this page comes from.
In EPUB and PDF with its audiobook, and a second novel in the same Spanish. See the books.
Where the course teaches this
2 lessons build it up, each one inside a chapter of the story rather than in the abstract. Free to read, with the vocabulary, the audio and the exercises.
- The adjective goes after. Muy, poco, mucho, bastanteLesson 7The name of the horse
- Possessives: the weak set and the strong setLesson 28The inn by night: Maritornes
Next to this one
The points that sit closest to this one, and that a student usually meets around the same time.