When do adjectives go before nouns?
Holá! Estoy confudida. Esta mañana escuché el radio en español, y el cantante dijó "...blanca Navidad sueño." Por qué es "blanca Navidad" y no "Navidad blanca?"
How do you know if an adjective should go before or after a noun? Hay algunas reglas??
4 Answers
If the the adjective describes how the noun always is or an integral part of the noun, ie an inseparable relationship, then it goes before, white snow / blanca nieve etc.
Here's some thoughts from Lazarus that you will likely find helpful:
As a general rule adjectives used after the verb restrict the meaning, and when they precede the noun, they just clarify without restrictions.
Non-restrictive (it applies to all):
Le di caramelos a los simpáticos niños = I gave sweets to the children; they were nice children, by the way
Restrictive (we refer only to those matching the adjective)
Le di caramelos a los niños simpáticos = I gave sweets only to the children that were nice; the others got no sweets whatsoever
Usually colors come after nouns, but White Christmas is more of an event than a noun and a color. Plus, the words probably fit the tune better that way.
There are rules, but they aren't completely rigid.
This link is a start. There are other links from there.
Suerte.
Sometimes you put the adjective before to emphasize. To attach importance to it.
Un saludo!
In some instances, that is the way to be more poetic. "Blanca Navidad" is the poetic way to say Navidad Blanca. "Santa la noche, hermosas las estrellas la noche cuando nacio el Señor, el mundo envuelto estuvo en sus querellas hasta que Dios nos mando al Salvador..." = Oh holy night....
