Buen dia - not dia buen.
Why do we say "good day" and not "day good" in Spanish? I thought the adjective followed the noun?
I'm sure this is easy - but I'm just starting Spanish and confused.
Thanks
7 Answers
I'm another one who's not a big fan of "rules". They tend to confuse people if they're not followed 100% of the time, and they never are.
Normally the adjective follows the noun in Spanish. But not always. This is just one of those cases. Feliz cumpleaños, feliz navidad, buenos días, etc.
Sometimes the position of the adjective changes the meaning of the phrase: hombre grande = big man, gran hombre = great man.
Why? Just because that's the way they say it.
Don't use rules where they are not, who says that noun goes always first? spanish is a live language, buenos días, bellas artes, grandes manos, mal amigo, there are lots of examples where adjective is before the noun. I'm really trying to remember a phrase where the noun is actually first, no success by now.
día buen feels very awkward just saying it, buen día feels musical and rhythmic, just's like Spanish is supposed to be 
you could also say "acabo de tener un buen día" that is exactly the same
Many times an adjective can go either before or after a noun. In the case of Día, normal usage is buen día. You can however for emphasis say ie: "Acabo de tener un día muy bueno," but you cannot use Buen here because is this is an abreviated adjective.
Why do we say good day in English and not day good?
because it sounds better
