English Translation
That old house looks kind of ugly.
Shouldn’t the adjective “vieja” be after the noun? As in “casa vieja”?
My non-native take on this is that both placements are valid, especially if there’s only one ugly house in sight; otherwise your suggestion is useful as it points out which house is ugly (the old one, not the new one).
Adjectives in spanish can be placed both before and after the noun. The latter being the more usual way of doing it. Even if possible to write them before, I’d say thwre are three aspects to it:
- there are some fixed expressions in which the adjective comes before, for example: 'es buena gente", or like numerals: “primer mundo”, “tercera posición”
- if it’s not a fixed expression, there can be a slight change in meaning viejo amigo/amigo viejo - an old friend/ a friend who is old
- and if anything, even if there is no nuance in meaning, it has a tendency to sound more literary.
In this case, I’d say we’re on the third category.
If you are intereseted (and have some time to spend) here is la RAE’s article
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