B2 · Adjectives
Adjective position and meaning
An old friend is not an aged friend.
At a glance
- Remember
- In front the verdict, behind the fact.
- Form
- un viejo amigo / un amigo viejoviejo
- Signal words
- viejo
- gran
- pobre
- antiguo
- único
- Trap
- Wrong:Ayer vi a un amigo viejo de la universidad.Right:Ayer vi a un viejo amigo de la universidad.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself4 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
The form
The forms side by side
All the forms in one overview: first what each one stands for, then the form in Spanish, so you can compare them directly.
| viejo | un viejo amigo / un amigo viejo |
| grande | un gran hombre / un hombre grande |
| pobre | un pobre hombre / un hombre pobre |
| cierto | cierta noticia / una noticia cierta |
| antiguo | mi antigua casa / una casa antigua |
| único | mi único hijo / un hijo único |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
In front the adjective carries a judgement.
Es un viejo amigo mío.He is an old friend of mine.
Behind it names a checkable property.
Es un amigo viejo.He is an elderly friend.
grande becomes gran in front of any noun.
Fue un gran error.That was a big mistake.
cierto in front is «a certain», behind it «true».
Cierta persona me lo dijo.A certain person told me.
Example sentences
Mi antigua jefa vive en Sevilla.My former boss lives in Seville.
Compramos una casa antigua.We bought an old house.
Es su único hijo.He is her only son.
Es hijo único.He is an only child.
6 more example sentences
Fue una gran sorpresa.That was a great surprise.
Vive en una ciudad grande.He lives in a big city.
El pobre chico no sabía nada.The poor boy knew nothing.
Es una familia pobre.It is a poor family.
Tengo mi propio despacho.I have my own office.
Lo vi con mis propios ojos.I saw it with my own eyes.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The position gets treated as a matter of taste: un amigo viejo for «an old friend». But that says the friend is elderly. What is usually meant is un viejo amigo — somebody known for a long time. With this group, position is meaning.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
With about a dozen adjectives the position decides not the tone but the meaning. Un viejo amigois a friend of long standingun amigo viejoan elderly person Un gran hombreis a great manun hombre grandea big one
The rule behind it is the same as everywhere else: in front stands what the speaker adds — a judgement, a relationship. Behind stands what tells the thing apart from others — a checkable property.
So un pobre hombre is «a poor soul» (to be pitied) and un hombre pobre «a man without money». The first is a verdict, the second a fact.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: ser · decir · comprar · vivir