Voted Best Answer
Feb 01, 2011 - 06:35 PM
Hi!
You are not the only one who is a bit confused. Here is a question I answered before- I think it will help you out.
QUESTION:
Hi Sonia,
Could you please help me to answer this user's question.
I understand that the adjective must follow the noun, but in some of the work outs, the adjective follows the qualifier of the noun (i.e. with or without) when other times the adjective directly follows the noun. Example #1: Cafe con leche pequeno. Example #2: Cafe grande sin azucar. Can you put the adjective either place, as long as it follows the noun? Please advise...
ANSWER:
Adjectives are tricky and you are bound to run into some confusion from time to time. That said, the good thing is that in this case I think we can give you a good common sensical way to approach it.
In the case of:
Café con leche pequeño. By placing the "pequeño" after the whole phrase "café con leche" it's like you are referring the coffee with milk as one single thing. You are not saying the milk is large, but rather the combined coffee and milk. Café con leche is such a common way to ask for coffee in Latin America that it is almost a noun in itself.
You could indeed say: Café pequeño con leche-- The very subtle difference is that here you are almost saying a small black coffee that you will later add milk to...
Again this is very very subtle, and with whole phrases that account almost as a single noun, you would place the qualifier after, because you are indeed describing the whole phrase.
Other examples:
--Un jugo de naranja grande (same thing, orange juice is almost one thing) - You are not saying the orange is large, but rather the orange juice. It sounds more natural this way, much more than- Un jugo grande de naranja.
When you say un café grande sin azúcar- it's a matter of perception, of course, but in a way it is different than "café con leche" or "jugo de naranja". See, coffee is not generally served with the sugar in it already so it is not usually a single thing.
So I think what is confusing here is the "café con leche" example, which is very particular. If you think of "café con leche" just as you would "orange juice" then it all makes a bit more sense.
You are not the only one who is a bit confused. Here is a question I answered before- I think it will help you out.
QUESTION:
Hi Sonia,
Could you please help me to answer this user's question.
I understand that the adjective must follow the noun, but in some of the work outs, the adjective follows the qualifier of the noun (i.e. with or without) when other times the adjective directly follows the noun. Example #1: Cafe con leche pequeno. Example #2: Cafe grande sin azucar. Can you put the adjective either place, as long as it follows the noun? Please advise...
ANSWER:
Adjectives are tricky and you are bound to run into some confusion from time to time. That said, the good thing is that in this case I think we can give you a good common sensical way to approach it.
In the case of:
Café con leche pequeño. By placing the "pequeño" after the whole phrase "café con leche" it's like you are referring the coffee with milk as one single thing. You are not saying the milk is large, but rather the combined coffee and milk. Café con leche is such a common way to ask for coffee in Latin America that it is almost a noun in itself.
You could indeed say: Café pequeño con leche-- The very subtle difference is that here you are almost saying a small black coffee that you will later add milk to...
Again this is very very subtle, and with whole phrases that account almost as a single noun, you would place the qualifier after, because you are indeed describing the whole phrase.
Other examples:
--Un jugo de naranja grande (same thing, orange juice is almost one thing) - You are not saying the orange is large, but rather the orange juice. It sounds more natural this way, much more than- Un jugo grande de naranja.
When you say un café grande sin azúcar- it's a matter of perception, of course, but in a way it is different than "café con leche" or "jugo de naranja". See, coffee is not generally served with the sugar in it already so it is not usually a single thing.
So I think what is confusing here is the "café con leche" example, which is very particular. If you think of "café con leche" just as you would "orange juice" then it all makes a bit more sense.