Adjective position and meaning shifts

Portuguese gives the same adjective two slots, and the slot carries meaning. After the noun is a common descriptive position; before it can add emphasis or change the meaning. The effect depends on the adjective and context. But with a handful of very common words it is not warmth at all — call someone um homem grande when you meant um grande homem and you have described their body instead of praising their character. The good news is that the list is short, the default is safe, and you already know every word on it.

Behind the noun is home

English usually puts attributive adjectives in front of the noun. Portuguese usually does the opposite: it names the thing first and describes it afterwards. Uma casa amarela (a yellow house), um problema chato (an annoying problem), uma pergunta difícil (a hard question) — noun first, description second, and that is a common descriptive order.

Colour and shape adjectives normally follow the noun. Origin and type adjectives also follow it in ordinary classifying uses:

The everyday order

• "Moro numa rua tranquila." (I live on a quiet street.)

• "Ela tem um cachorro enorme." (She has a huge dog.)

• "O ônibus vermelho para perto da minha casa." (The red bus stops near my house.)

• "Eu prefiro música brasileira." (I prefer Brazilian music.)

Grande and novo

• "Pelé foi um grande jogador." (Pelé was a great player.)

• "O irmão dela é um rapaz grande." (Her brother is a big lad.)

• "Ele arrumou um novo emprego." (He got himself another job.)

• "Minha tia comprou um sofá novo." (My aunt bought a brand-new sofa.)

Order words come first when they are ordering

Primeiro, último and próximo normally go in front in these uses: o primeiro ônibus (the first bus), a última vez (the last time), a próxima segunda-feira (next Monday). A familiar use of primeiro after the noun is a date — dia primeiro de maio (the first of May) is how Brazilians read 1º de maio out loud. In the following example, próximo describes closeness: um amigo próximo is a close friend.

caro: dear or expensive, depending on the slot

Every Brazilian email that opens Caro João or Cara Ana is using caro the way English uses "Dear". The price meaning appears in um presente caro (an expensive present). Um caro amigo means a dear friend, but um amigo caro can also mean a cherished friend; position alone does not guarantee a money-related reading.

único: only one, or one of a kind

A common contrast is counting in front and describing uniqueness behind: um único problema (only one problem) against um problema único (a one-of-a-kind problem). Same word, opposite jobs.

An adjective carrying luggage stays behind

An adjective with a following complement normally comes after the noun: uma sala cheia de gente (a room full of people), um exercício fácil de entender (an exercise that is easy to understand). ✗ uma cheia de gente sala is not a sentence.

A celebrated Brazilian comic actor was billed as Pequeno before he was billed as Grande. Sebastião Bernardes de Souza Prata took the stage name Otelo at the Companhia Lírica Nacional, where his conductor was convinced that voice would one day sing Verdi's Otello, and his short stature made him Pequeno Otelo. Once he was famous the press moved a different adjective into the same slot and it stuck for life: Grande Otelo. The new nickname praised the actor rather than measuring his height: here grande means great.

Sources: USP — FFLCH, Câmara Municipal de São Paulo.

One of the most famous songs in Brazilian music is a letter, and it opens with this lesson. In July 1975 Chico Buarque started writing to his friend Augusto Boal, exiled in Portugal, and the draft in that letter became Meu caro amigo, composed with Francis Hime and posted to Lisbon on a home-recorded cassette before the record came out. Caro in front of the noun is the "Dear" that still opens Brazilian emails; um presente caro illustrates the price meaning, while um amigo caro can still mean a cherished friend.

Sources: Blog do IMS — Instituto Moreira Salles, chicobuarque.com.br.