¡Valiente amigo eres tú!
You’re a fine friend! (ironical)5.2.3 Some contrasting examples:
los blancos cisnes
‘white swans’ (implies whiteness is a natural attribute of swans)los cisnes blancos
‘thewhite swans’ (a sub-group of swans in general, as opposed to, say,
black ones)
la prestigiosa institución
‘the prestigious institution’ (an institution which is known to be
prestigious, e.g. the Spanish Academy)
la institución prestigiosa
‘theprestigious institution’ (singling one institution out in contrast to
others which are not prestigious)
la trágica muerte de Lorca
‘Lorca’s tragic death’ (Lorca’s death is known to have been tragic.)Lorca tuvo una muerte trágica.
‘Lorca had a tragic death.’ (distinguishing the kind of death Lorca had)
Es un auténtico enigma.
‘It’s a real enigma.’ (intensifying, not literally ‘real’)
Es un diamante auténtico.
‘It’s a real diamond.’ (real as opposed to fake, the literal meaning
of ‘real’)5.2.4 Adjectives denoting a number or quantity normally precede the noun:
de todas maneras‘in any case’
muchísimas preguntas‘very many questions’
en determinados casos‘in certain cases’
numerosas familias‘numerous (i.e. many) families’
contrast:
familias numerosas‘large families’5.2.5 Other adjectives normally placed before the noun are:
dicho‘the aforementioned’
llamado‘so-called’
mero‘mere’
otro‘(an)other’5.2.6 There are a number of adjectives which have a rather different meaning according to
whether they precede or follow the noun:
ADJECTIVES 5.2