When the Word Order Changes the Translation
He leído en alguna parte que el orden de algunas palabras cambio su significado. Por ejemplo,VIEJO AMIGO es una persona que ha sido un amigo para un largo tiempo, pero AMIGO VIEJO es una persona que tiene muchos años. Sin embargo, cuando se utiliza un traductor en spanishdict.com VIEJO AMIGO traduce como Old Friend y AMIGO VIEJO traduce como Friend Old - nada más. Como puede alguien encontrar el verdadero significado de las palabras.
Gracias por sus respuestas
1 Answer
Here is a lesson on the subject. The translators are generally not going to be reliable, and you just have to learn it from reputable sites, like the one I am quoting:
http://spanish.about.com/od/adjectives/a/adjective_placement.htm
By Gerald Erichsen Updated June 30, 2016.
Put an adjective before a nounor after the noun in Spanish, and usually it makes only a subtle difference, if any, in the meaning. But there are some cases where the placement of the adjective makes significant enough of a difference that we would translate it differently in English.
For an example, take the following two sentences: Tengo un viejo amigo. Tengo un amigo viejo. A "safe" translation of these two sentences would be fairly easy to come up with: "I have an old friend." But what does that mean? Does it mean that my friend is elderly? Or does it mean that the person has been a friend for a long time? It may surprise you to find out that in Spanish the sentences aren't so ambiguous, for viejo can be understood differently depending on where it is in relation to the noun that is described. Word order does make a difference. In this case, tengo un viejo amigo typically means "I have a longtime friend," and tengo un amigo viejo typically means "I have an elderly friend." Similarly, someone who has been a dentist for a long time is un viejo dentista, but a dentist who is old is un dentista viejo.
Of course it is possible to be both — but in that case the word order will indicate what you're emphasizing.
Viejo is far from the only adjective that functions that way, although the distinctions aren't nearly always as strong as they are with viejo. Here are examples of some of the more common such adjectives. Context still matters, so you shouldn't consider the meanings to always be consistent with what's listed here, but these are guidelines to pay attention to:
• antiguo: la antigua silla, the old-fashioned chair; la silla antigua, the antique chair • grande: un gran hombre, a great man; un hombre grande, a big man • medio: una media galleta, half a cookie; una galleta media, an average-size or medium-size cookie • mismo: el mismo atleta, the same athlete; el atleta mismo, the athlete himself • nuevo: el nuevo libro, the brand-new book, the newly acquired book; el libro nuevo, the newly made book • pobre: esa pobre mujer, that poor woman (in the sense of being pitiful); esa mujer pobre, that woman who is poor • propio: mis propios zapatos, my own shoes; mis zapatos propios, my appropriate shoes • solo: un solo hombre, only one man; un hombre solo, a lonely man • triste: un triste viaje, a dreadful trip; un viaje triste, a sad trip • único: la única estudiante, the only student; la estudiante única, the unique student • valiente: una valiente persona, a great person (this is often used ironically); una persona valiente (a brave person) • You may notice a pattern above: When placed after a noun, the adjective tends to add a somewhat objective meaning, while placed before it often provides an emotional or subjective meaning.
These meanings aren't always hard and fast and can depend to a certain extent on context. For example, antigua silla might also refer to a well-used chair or a chair with a long history. Some of the words also have other meanings; solo, for example, can also mean "alone." And in some cases, as with nuevo, placement can also be a matter of emphasis rather than simply of meaning. But this list does provide a guide that should be useful in helping determine the meaning of some double-meaning adjectives.
Additional useful material
http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/a/whereadjective.htm
This is a small part of the material at this link:
Meaning-Changing Adjectives
Some adjectives change in meaning (or at least in English translation) depending on whether they're placed before or after the noun. Generally, the adjectives placed after the noun have an objective meaning or one that carries little or no emotional content, while one placed before the noun can indicate something about how the speaker feels toward the person or thing being described.
• mi viejo amigo (my longtime friend), mi amigo viejo, my elderly friend • el gran canal (the grand canal), el canal grande, the large canal
Generally, except for the meaning-changing adjectives, you won't go wrong by placing a descriptive adjective after the noun. However, as you examine Spanish writing or listen to the spoken language, you will develop a feel for those cases where you can or should place adjectives ahead of the noun.
http://spanish.about.com/od/adjectives/a/descriptive_adjectives.htm
I am not going to bring this link over or my post will be too long, but it is worth going and reading, it is not directly on the subject, but a related matter- that of the adjective being before instilling emotional content that is hinted at above.
