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Why Spanish Adjectives Change Meaning When They Come Before the Noun
Everything started in Latin
Dieser Beitrag erklärt ein wichtiges Thema der spanischen Grammatik (Text auf Englisch).
In Latin, certain adjectives placed before the noun acquired a meaning that changed if they were placed after it:
• vir magnus = a man of great importance or moral quality
• magnus vir = a big man (in size)
The major Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, and Romanian) inherited from Latin this characteristic: placing the adjective before the noun gives it a connotative meaning, while placing it after gives it a denotative one.
| Language | Connotative | Denotative |
|---|---|---|
| Catalan | un gran home | un home gran |
| French | un grand homme | un homme grand |
| Italian | un grande uomo | un uomo grande |
| Portuguese | um grande homem | um homem grande |
| Romanian | un mare om | un om mare |
| Spanish | un gran hombre | un hombre grande |
This semantic contrast created by the position of the adjective is not universal. It is a structural inheritance from Latin and remains systematically active mainly in the Romance languages.
Only in Spanish now
alto
• un funcionario alto → physically tall (height)
• un alto funcionario → high-ranking, important in the hierarchy
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antiguo
• un antiguo maestro → former, no longer your teacher
• un maestro antiguo → old-fashioned or from ancient times
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bueno
• una parte buena → a good/positive part
• una buena parte → a large portion
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cierto
• noticias ciertas → true, verified news
• ciertas noticias → certain news (unspecified)
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fantástico
• literatura fantástica → fantasy literature (genre)
• fantástica literatura → excellent, amazing literature
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grande
• una escuela grande → big in size
• una gran escuela → great, prestigious
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menudo
• un tipo menudo → small, thin in size
• menudo tipo → what a character! (often ironic or critical)
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mismo
• el profesor mismo → the teacher himself
• el mismo profesor → the same teacher
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pobre
• un hombre pobre → poor (without money)
• un pobre hombre → pitiful, unfortunate man
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puro
• ruido puro → pure noise, only noise
• puro ruido → nothing but noise, sheer noise
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simple
• una pregunta simple → easy, not complex
• una simple pregunta → just a question, nothing more
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solo
• una persona sola → alone, without company
• una sola persona → only one person
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triste
• un empleado triste → sad employee (emotion)
• un triste empleado → pathetic, miserable employee
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único
• una mujer única → special, incomparable
• una única mujer → the only woman
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viejo
• un amigo viejo → an elderly friend
• un viejo amigo → a long-time friend
Example from the episode
In our episode, we discuss the general rule to place adjectives in the phrase.
Read the full episode here →
Episode 8
Bachelor’s degree in Literature (University of Buenos Aires). Spanish and Literature teacher. Researcher and author of Los premios Nobel de literatura. Una lectura crítica (University of Seville). More than 30 years’ experience teaching Spanish to international students.
One-to-one lessons via Zoom.
Contact: laura@spanishforlondon.com
Abschluss in Literaturwissenschaft (Universität Buenos Aires). Lehrerin für Spanisch und Literatur. Forscherin und Autorin des Buches Los premios Nobel de literatura. Eine lectura crítica (Universität Sevilla). Über 30 Jahre Erfahrung im Unterricht von Spanisch als Fremdsprache.
Einzelunterricht über Zoom.
Kontakt: laura@spanishforlondon.com
