When are Spanish nouns and adjectives not reversed?

Question

I originally learned that Spanish nouns and the adjectives that describe them are reversed in comparison to English. I have found instances where the noun and adjective were not switched; but, I don't know why this is.

For example:
I liked up the adjective "wrong" in a Spanish-English dictionary. It listed the translation as "mala". It then gave an example phrase with "mala". The phrase was "una mala respuesta". So why wasn't it "una respuesta mala"?

My example comes from: Webster's New Spanish-English Dictionary.

Answer 1

This is a very complicated question, actually, so it's difficult to answer in terms that will be useful to you (unless you're a linguist, which I assume you aren't).

The placement of adjectives before the noun in Spanish is possible with just about all adjectives, and it's especially done in certain literary genres. I understand that one genre where this is often done is the society pages of the newspaper. However, most of the time, the adjective still follows the noun.

There are a few cases where the placement of the adjective either before or after the noun changes the meaning. Here are a couple:
Ella es una vieja amiga. "She is an old friend." -> This one means that you have known this person for a long time.
Ella es una amiga vieja. -> "She is an old friend." -> This one means that your friend is very advanced in age.

Other adjectives that I often see in front of the noun are buen/a, nuevo/a, and malo/a (like in the example you saw).

It's also important to recognize that in exclamatives, the adjective always precedes the noun:
¡Qué lindo día! -> "What a nice day!"
(This form is grammatically correct. ¡Qué día lindo! would not be correct.)

I actually heard a paper presented at a linguistics conference a couple of years ago that listed something like 24 different positions where an adjective can be placed in relationship to a noun in Spanish. Some of them are before the noun and some of them are after. I suspect that you don't want to get into this kind of detail, although I can give you references if you do.

My advice, then, is:
Keep putting the adjective after the noun and you probably won't be wrong, except in the cases where it changes the meaning, such as in the examples above.

And, by the way, "mala" is probably better translated as "bad". I would translate "wrong" as "incorrecto/a".

Answer 2

in the sentence you wrote it can be either way "mala respuesta" or "respuesta mala" just as in "she is a bad woman" we can say "ella es una mala mujer" or "ella es una mujer mala" it is one of those things that you understand better with practice same as for any Spanish speaking person learning English, mostly we switch when it is a single adjective, when you use several adjectives then it is first the noun and then the adjectives

Answer 3

I am a Spanish Language Major here in San Diego so I know that the correct example would have been "una respuesta mala." However if you are using an on-line translator, a lot of rules are broken and they use the slang and sometimes "spanglish" versions.... personally I wish they would stick straight with the rules but.... ojalá que yo te pude. = )

Answer 4

Hi, well sometimes (like in ur example) u can put the adjective at the end or at the beginning, both r correct.
But when u describe something like a big apple, u say una manzana grande, if u say una grande manzana, tht wouldnt b correct, u should say una gran manzana instead of tht

The French explanation its ok, I'm Mexican, I'm studying languages (I'll b a french-spanish-english interp.) n to learn English we learn it the way he says

hope it helps

Answer 5

Wow, I sure hope someone who speaks Spanish fluently helps you with your question.

I know that in most languages and in most proper speaking, a descriptive words comes after the noun-- It just makes more sense in terms of importance to support the noun with a descriptive word, instead of the other way around.

Answer 6

When the adjective is used with abstract nouns it can be used either way after or before the nouns.

Answer 7

The rule in French is ATAQ
Apparence (appearance) such as beautiful, pretty (beau, joli)
Taille: (size) short, tall, fat, (petit, grand, gros)
Age: young old new (jeune, vieux, nouveau)
Qualité (quality) good, better, bad, true, same (bon, meilleur, mauvais, vrai, même)

they all go in front - it could be a similar rule in Spanish
especially is mauvais is the French for the word in Spanish you had in your example

Answer 8

If something is an inherent characteristic...like it never changes...then the adjective goes first.

So amigo viejo would be a friend who is old in age and viejo amigo would be an old friend that you've known for a while.

Answer 9

hey u cant ask a question when i am confused meanie

Answer 10

I totally suck at Spainish!!