Confirm adjective placement

Question

I called a girl "mi amor bonita". I get some leeway since I'm not a native speaker but I was pretty sure that was right. I noticed an unrelated translation elsewhere that put the adjective before the noun. Reading into that since I had never run across it before (thanks to everyone here for all the articles!), I have a different perspective: that it's not necessarily wrong but it really should have been "mi bonita amor" since I'm not comparing her to all my other loves but merely mentioning a quality she has.

Further experimenting with google's translate (I know it's not perfect but it's good for ideas) gave me an interesting result:

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Valentine's Day!

¡Feliz Día de la Madre y el Día de San Valentín feliz!

Should it be:

¡Feliz Día de la Madre y Feliz Día de San Valentín!

Have I got the basic idea right? Thanks!

Hola, Bienvenido al foro! - rac1, May 26, 2012

Gracias! - MikeDB, May 26, 2012

Answer 1

I just had an "aha" moment.

"El amor" is a masculine noun, so you would say "Mi bonito amor" when addressing both boys and girls. I'm 99% percent sure of this, as you address both boys and girls as "(el) cariño" regardless of the gender of the person, because the noun you are using does not change gender.

You might want to see this.

*facepalm* I knew that, honest! I agree with that author that it's odd to us English speakers but you're right. Thanks! - MikeDB, May 26, 2012

Answer 2

GuitarWarrior is right and this phrase, like many others, can have the adjective before the noun or after. Placement depends on what you choose to emphasize.

"Mi bonito amor" emphasizes "amor." "Mi amor bonito" emphasizes "bonito."

This expression, however, sounds a little strange. It´s more natural to say simply "mi amor" or "mi vida," "mi cielo," "mi reina," preciosa,"guapa," etc.

It sounds strange in both languages as far as I know, but it's expected from me (my attempts, bad as they are, are considered cute and I take full advantage of that!). - MikeDB, May 28, 2012

How does mi cielo translate? I mean, I know it's sky or heaven but is that still what it means as an endearment? - MikeDB, May 28, 2012

This is great. You say it to the woman who is the adorned one in your life. She will feel really good when she hears you say it - 005faa61, May 31, 2012

Answer 3

Here is some information that should be helpful. Try this link

That's one of the articles I read. I wanted to know if I understood it properly. - MikeDB, May 26, 2012

I think it was pretty basic. Did you have trouble understanding it? - rac1, May 26, 2012

While I may feel I understand something, if it's a fairly new subject for me, I like confirmation. I was good in Spanish class but that was basic Spanish class 20 years ago and this was never touched. - MikeDB, May 26, 2012

I understand that.:) - rac1, May 26, 2012