Italian adjective position: un grande uomo, un uomo grande

Most Italian adjectives follow the noun: «una macchina rossa», «un ragazzo simpatico», «una lingua straniera». This is the neutral position, used for adjectives that classify or describe something objectively: colour, shape, nationality, material, and technical or official categories.

Many adjectives can also go before the noun. There they usually sound more subjective, more emotional or more literary: «una splendida giornata», «un lungo viaggio». For a small group of very common adjectives, the position changes the meaning itself: «un vecchio amico» is a friend you have known for a long time, while «un amico vecchio» is a friend who is old.

No single rule covers every adjective, and very often both orders are correct. The useful question is this: am I identifying or classifying the noun (after it), or am I commenting on it (before it)?

After the noun: the neutral, descriptive position

Put the adjective after the noun when it tells you which kind of thing you mean and sets it apart from others: «il vino rosso» (not the white), «una stanza vetrata», «un corso serale». Adjectives of colour, shape, nationality and material, and those that name technical or official categories («la politica economica», «il codice penale»), almost always follow the noun. So do past participles used as adjectives, «una finestra aperta», and any adjective that has its own complement or is modified by an adverb: «una piazza piena di gente», «un museo facile da raggiungere», «un libro molto interessante».

After the noun, an adjective can also carry contrast, because it is the new information: «Ho chiesto un caffè lungo, non ristretto». When two descriptive adjectives follow the same noun, join them with «e»: «una casa grande e luminosa».

• Abbiamo preso una camera doppia con bagno privato. · We took a double room with a private bathroom.
• Mi piace la cucina giapponese, ma non il pesce crudo. · I like Japanese food, but not raw fish.
• È una città ricca di storia e facile da girare a piedi. · It’s a city full of history and easy to get around on foot.

Before the noun: evaluation and emphasis

Before the noun, an adjective tends to express the speaker’s judgement, or a quality taken for granted, rather than a feature that distinguishes one thing from another. «Una splendida vista», «un terribile incidente», «una lunga attesa» do not pick out one view or one wait among many; they comment on it. This is why short evaluative adjectives such as «bello», «brutto», «buono», «cattivo», «bravo», «grande», «piccolo», «lungo» and «breve» very often come first, and why the position before the noun is so frequent in reviews, advertising and descriptive writing.

With many adjectives the difference is only one of tone. «Una bella giornata» is the everyday phrase; «una giornata bella» sounds contrastive, a nice day as opposed to a bad one. An adjective that states a quality the noun has by nature also goes naturally before it, as in the literary «la bianca neve»: all snow is white, so the adjective describes rather than selects.

• Abbiamo passato una splendida serata in terrazza. · We spent a wonderful evening on the terrace.
• Dopo una lunga discussione, hanno trovato un accordo. · After a long discussion, they reached an agreement.
• È un bravo medico, ma un pessimo organizzatore. · He’s a good doctor, but a terrible organiser.

Adjectives that change meaning with position

For some very common adjectives the difference is not just tone but meaning. Before the noun the adjective is figurative or evaluative; after it, literal and descriptive. «Un grande scrittore» is a great writer; «uno scrittore grande» would be a tall or large one. «Un vecchio amico» is someone you have known for years, who may be twenty-five; «un amico vecchio» is elderly. «Il mio vecchio capo» is usually my former boss.

«Diverso» and «vario» before a plural noun mean “several”: «diverse persone», «varie volte»; after it they mean “different” or “varied”. «Nuovo» before the noun means “another, new to me” («la mia nuova macchina» may be second-hand); after it, “brand new”. «Buono» before the noun often means good at something, «un buon medico»; after it, kind-hearted, «un medico buono». «Stesso» before the noun means “same”, «la stessa sera»; after it, “itself, in person”, «il sindaco stesso».

• Ho incontrato un vecchio compagno di scuola al supermercato. · I ran into an old school friend at the supermarket.
• Dopo il viaggio ho dovuto comprare una valigia nuova. · After the trip I had to buy a new suitcase.
• Gliel’ho ripetuto diverse volte, ma non mi ascolta. · I’ve told him several times, but he doesn’t listen.

Bello, buono and grande before the noun

Before a noun, «bello» and «buono» change form the way the articles do. «Bello» follows the pattern of the definite article: «un bel quadro» (il), «un bello spazio» (lo), «un bell’arco» (l’), «dei bei quadri» (i), «dei begli archi» (gli). «Buono» follows the indefinite article in the singular: «un buon caffè», «un buono stipendio», «un buon amico», «una buon’amica»; in the plural it is regular: «buoni amici», «buone idee».

«Grande» often shortens to «gran» before a consonant, especially in speech: «un gran caldo», «una gran confusione». The full form is always correct.

These short forms exist only directly before a noun. After the noun or after a verb, the adjectives keep their full form: «un ragazzo bello», «Il film è bello», «Questo caffè è buono». And when the adjective is modified by an adverb, it usually moves after the noun: «un libro molto bello», although the superlative «un bellissimo libro» is fine before it.

• Che bel vestito! Dove l’hai comprato? · What a lovely dress! Where did you buy it?
• Nel parco ci sono dei begli alberi secolari. · There are some beautiful old trees in the park.
• Ho una buona notizia e una brutta notizia. · I’ve got good news and bad news.