CRAZY ADJECTIVE PLACEMENT

Adjectives are crazy in Spanish.

Where do you put them?In front of the noun?Behind the noun?Both?

The answer?

All of the previous answers are right!

Usually the adjectives in Spanish go after the nouns.

EX. The white house = la casa blanca

The big girls = las chicas grandes

The funny boys = los chicos cómicos

This rule covers adjectives that show quality.

What kind of house? Casa blanca

What kind of girls? Chicas grandes

What kind of boys? Chicos cómicos

However, there are adjectives that go in front of the nouns.

These adjectives show quantity or which one.

How many? una casa one house dos chicas two girls muchos chicos many boys algunos libros some books ningún amigo not one friend

Which one? el perro the dog mi hermano my brother

este libro this book ese papel that paper aquella persona that person over there

Sometimes we put adjectives in front to show emphasis. Not a man who did bad

things, un hombre malo

but a BAD man, un mal hombre

Sometimes we put adjectives in front to show emphasis.Not a man who did good

things, un hombre bueno

but a GOOD man, un buen hombre

The position of the adjective makes a change in meaning.

A poor man – un hombre pobre

rather than………..

¡Pobre hombre!Poor man!

Or instead of Es un panadero bueno.

Notice! We SHORTEN THE MASCULINE FORM OF THE ADJECTIVE!

A GOOD baker!!! ¡¡¡Un BUEN

panadero!!!

Notice! We SHORTENED THE MASCULINE FORM OF THE ADJECTIVE!

We dropped the O

We call them shortened adjectives because we DROP THE O of the masculine singular adjectives when we put them in front of the noun to give emphasis.

Un BUEN hombre bajo

We stressed that he is good more than than the fact that he is short, so we put the adjective in front. Then drop the o.

Two other words are always shortened IF they are adjectives, but they keep the o if they stand alone… 1st 3rdThe first day the third monthEl primer día el tercer mes BUTHe’s the first. He’s the third. Es el primero. Es el tercero.

But we don’t drop anything if we use first and third before any other nouns.

The first girl in the third class La primera chica en la tercera clase

Now good night is still Buenas noches. We don’t shorten any adjectives except masculine singular……and only before a noun..

Just drop the o before masculine singular nouns. The rest are normal.

¡Buenos días!

Other adjectives that can go before the noun are these:

The best girl la mejor chica

The best boy el mejor chico

The worst food la peor comida

The worst book el peor libro

Other adjectives that can go before the noun are these, BUT when we shorten the masculine singular adjective here, we have to add an accent to conserve the pronunciation:

algún día some day

alguna razón some reason

algunos amigos some friends

algunas gatas some cats

Other adjectives that can go before the noun are these. When we shorten the masculine singular adjective here, remember to add an accent to conserve the pronunciation:

ningún día not one day

ninguna razón not any reason

ningunos amigos not any friends

ningunas gatas not any cats

If those adjectives become pronouns, meaning they stand alone, they keep the o.

Ninguno me compara.

No one compares to me.

Remember, the position of an adjective changes meaning, but the word GREAT stays shortened for both masculine and feminine…GO FIGURE!!!! ALWAYS exceptions!!!

The big woman la señora grande

The big man el señor grande

BUT

The great woman la gran señora The great man el gran señor

So let’s sum it all up.

1. Adjectives can go before or after a noun.2. Most adjectives that tell what kind go after

the noun. (quality)3. Adjectives that tell how many or which one

go before a noun. (quantity or position)4. To stress an adjective, we can put it in front.5. If we put an adjective in front, we drop the o

off any masculine, singular adjective.6. We have to add an accent to algún and

ningún to conserve the pronunciation.

Still summing up…

The main masculine singular adjectives that we shorten or drop the o are the following:

Good un buen pastel a good cake Bad un mal dolor a bad pain Some algún día some day None ningún problem not one problem First primer amor first love Third tercer coche third car

And the clincher…

Gran means great. Use it before the singular noun, either masculine or feminine.

Grande means big. Use it after the noun, either masculine or feminine.

PreAP Kids—Take notice!Why do you think we CAN say….

La blanca nieve

La feroz tigre

La verde césped

Did I hear you say…..

Because all snow is white.

All tigers are ferocious.

All grass is green.

So it is a natural emphasis; thus, it can be placed in front, too.

I knew you would get it!!!

THAT is the lesson for today.

Don’t forget to turn in your notes.