Spanish Adjective Order

In English adjectives are placed before the noun. This adjective order also occurs in Spanish, but Spanish adjectives usually follow the noun. In this post I will examine Spanish adjective order.

The adjectives bueno (good) and malo (bad) can be placed before or after nouns. Here are examples:

un libro bueno/un buen libro (a good book)
una idea mala/una mala idea (a bad idea)

Notice that the adjective bueno drops the o before the noun libro.

Certain adjectives must be placed before the noun. Here are examples:

el mejor actor (the best actor)
la peor clase (the worst class)

tres opciones (three options)
mi vida (my life)

In certain cases both orders are possible, but the meaning changes:

un amigo viejo (an elderly friend)
un viejo amigo (a longtime friend) 

un coche nuevo ( a modern car)
un nuevo coche ( a car that was recently bought)

Spanish adjectives usually follow the noun. However, certain adjectives can precede or follow the noun without a change in meaning and a few must precede the noun. With a few adjectives, the two adjective orders are possible, but the meaning changes.