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adjective order

Spanish translation: Hyphenated compound adjectives

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:adjective order
Spanish translation:Hyphenated compound adjectives
Entered by: Juli DS

14:19 Nov 28, 2008
English to Spanish translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: adjective order
Bright green scarf:una bufanda brillante y verde
Green bright scarf:una bufanda verde y brillante
Bright-green scarf:una bufanda brillante verde
Green-bright scarf:una bufanda verde brillante

What are the differences in the order of adjectives? what are the rules? where can I read about it?

Thanks in advance...
Richard Ramirez
Local time: 03:29
Hyphenated compound adjectives
Explanation:
Hello Richard,
Here I found some more info that should eliminate your trouble with hyphens.
Hope it helps :)
Julie


[edit] Hyphenated compound adjectives
A compound adjective is hyphenated if the hyphen helps the reader differentiate a compound adjective from two adjacent adjectives that each independently modify the noun. Compare the following examples:

"small appliance industry": a small industry producing appliances
"small-appliance industry": an industry producing small appliances
The hyphen is unneeded when capitalization or italicization makes grouping clear:

"old English scholar": an old person who is English and a scholar, or an old scholar who studies English
"Old English scholar": a scholar of Old English.
"De facto proceedings" (not "de-facto")
If, however, there is no risk of ambiguities, it may be written without a hyphen: Sunday morning walk.

Hyphenated compound adjectives may have been formed originally by an adjective preceding a noun:

"Round table" → "round-table discussion"
"Blue sky" → "blue-sky law"
"Red light" → "red-light district"
"Four wheels" → "four-wheel drive" (the singular, not the plural, is used)
Others may have originated with a verb preceding an adjective or adverb:

"Feel good" → "feel-good factor"
"Buy now, pay later" → "buy-now pay-later purchase"
Yet others are created with an original verb preceding a preposition.

"Stick on" → "stick-on label"
"Walk on" → "walk-on part"
"Stand by" → "stand-by fare"
"Roll on, roll off" → "roll-on roll-off ferry"
The following compound adjectives are always hyphenated when they are not written as one word:

An adjective preceding a noun to which -d or -ed has been added as a past-participle construction, used before a noun:
"loud-mouthed hooligan"
"middle-aged lady"
"rose-tinted glasses"
A noun, adjective, or adverb preceding a present participle:
"an awe-inspiring personality"
"a long-lasting affair"
"a far-reaching decision"
Numbers spelled out or as numerics:
"seven-year itch"
"five-sided polygon"
"20th-century poem"
"30-piece band"
"tenth-storey window"
A numeric with the affix -fold has a hyphen (15-fold), but when spelled out takes a solid construction (fifteenfold).
Numbers, spelled out or numeric, with added -odd: sixteen-odd, 70-odd.
Compound adjectives with high- or low-: "high-level discussion", "low-price markup".
Colours in compounds:
"a dark-blue sweater"
"a reddish-orange dress".
Fractions as modifiers are hyphenated: "five-eighths inches", but if numerator or denominator are already hyphenated, the fraction itself does not take a hyphen: "a thirty-three thousandth part". (Fractions used as nouns have no hyphens: "I ate only one third of the pie.")
Comparatives and superlatives in compound adjectives also take hyphens:
"the highest-placed competitor"
"a shorter-term loan"
However, a construction with most is not hyphenated:
"the most respected member".
Compounds including two geographical modifiers:
"Afro-Cuban"
"African-American" (sometimes)
"Anglo-Asian"
But not
"Central American".
The following compound adjectives are not normally hyphenated:

Where there is no risk of ambiguity:
"a Sunday morning walk"
Left-hand components of a compound adjective that end in -ly that modify right-hand components that are past participles (ending in -ed):
"a hotly disputed subject"
"a greatly improved scheme"
"a distantly related celebrity"
Compound adjectives that include comparatives and superlatives with more, most, less or least:
"a more recent development"
"the most respected member"
"a less opportune moment"
"the least expected event"
Ordinarily hyphenated compounds with intensive adverbs in front of adjectives:
"very much admired classicist"
"really well accepted proposal"
Selected response from:

Juli DS
Argentina
Local time: 04:29
Grading comment
Muchas gracias, has sido de gran ayuda...
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +2orden de los adjetivos
Ivana_19
4 +1Here you can find a complete idea.
Juli DS
4 +1Aquí te lo explican perfectamente
Margarita Ezquerra (Smart Translators, S.L.)
4 +1Hyphenated compound adjectives
Juli DS
4Mira aquí
Olga Alex


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Mira aquí


Explanation:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=211349

Olga Alex
Spain
Local time: 09:29
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 31
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

34 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Here you can find a complete idea.


Explanation:
What is the correct order of adjectives before a noun?

Michael Swan (Practical English Usage, Oxford University Press, 1997) writes:

"Unfortunately, the rules for adjective order are very complicated, and different grammars disagree about the details" p. 8

He does, however, go on to list some of the most important rules:

"1. Adjectives of colour, origin, material and purpose usually go in that order.

Colour origin material purpose noun
red Spanish leather riding boots
A brown German beer mug
A Venetian glass flower vase

2. Other adjectives usually go before words of colour, origin, material and purpose. It is impossible to give exact rules, but adjectives of size, length and height often come first.

The round glass table (NOT the glass round table)
A big, modern brick house (NOT a modern, big brick house)
Long, flexible steel poles
A tall, ancient oak-tree
3. Adjectives which express judgements or attitudes usually come before all others. Examples are lovely, definite, pure, absolute, extreme, perfect, wonderful, silly.

A lovely, long, cool drink
Who's that silly fat man over there?
4. Numbers usually go before adjectives.

Six large eggs
The second big shock
First, next and last most often go before one, two, three etc.

The first three days
My last two jobs."
pp. 8-9

He does not mention age, which would normally go after adjectives of size, length and height, but before colour, origin, material and purpose.

A big old straw hat.
A charming young university student.
Thus, a complete list could be:

(article) + number + judgement/attitude + size, length, height + age + colour + origin + material + purpose + noun

a lovely long black leather coat
a valuable Dutch Impressionist painting
a rustic old stone holiday cottage
For more information about adjective order, see:

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adjective_order.ht...

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adjord.ht...

http://www.englishclub.net/grammar/adjectives/order2.shtml

For exercises on adjective order, see:

http://www.better-english.com/grammar/adjord.htm

http://www.better-english.com/grammar/adjord2.htm

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adjective_order_qu...

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adjord1.h...

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adjord2.h...

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/vm/adjorder.html

http://www.englishoutlook.com/focus/grammar/adjorder.html

Top



    Reference: http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/adjective_ord...
Juli DS
Argentina
Local time: 04:29
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: These are all fine, but I'm still puzzled by hyphens.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Barbara Thomas: Gracias por las citas
21 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

36 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Aquí te lo explican perfectamente


Explanation:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4947410/EL-ADJETIVO-CALIFICATIVO-I...

Margarita Ezquerra (Smart Translators, S.L.)
Spain
Local time: 09:29
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 402

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  jacana54 (X): Qué bueno este artículo; siempre me había preguntado qué era scribd y ahora, de paso, lo averigüé.
2 hrs
  -> Gracias jacana
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

29 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
orden de los adjetivos


Explanation:
Bright green scarf: una bufanda verde brillante

La Gramática de la lengua española de la RAE, en el capítulo sobre los adjetivos, puede darte una idea sobre este tema.
También, Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española de Ignacio Bosque y Violeta de Monte Vol. 1
En caso de yuxtaposición de adjetivos, en general, el orden es: color, forma, tamaño y los apreciativos siempre al final (porque así se los resalta).
Y los calificativos van antes del complemento preposicional.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2008-11-28 16:22:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Adjectives order (before a noun):

opinion+description+classification

Order of desriptive adjectives:

size+age+shape+colour+origin+material+noun

In these web pages you can find some information about compound adjectives, when to use or not a hyphen:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/le...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_compound#Compound_adjec...

Corrección de la traducción: al tratarse de colores capaz es mejor utilizar los términos verde claroo o fuerte más que brillante.

Ivana_19
Native speaker of: Spanish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Buena información, pero tambien me pudieras dar una idea de los adjetivos en inglés que estan separados por un guión??


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez-Carrington
7 mins
  -> Gracias, José
agree  Darío Zozaya
2 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Hyphenated compound adjectives


Explanation:
Hello Richard,
Here I found some more info that should eliminate your trouble with hyphens.
Hope it helps :)
Julie


[edit] Hyphenated compound adjectives
A compound adjective is hyphenated if the hyphen helps the reader differentiate a compound adjective from two adjacent adjectives that each independently modify the noun. Compare the following examples:

"small appliance industry": a small industry producing appliances
"small-appliance industry": an industry producing small appliances
The hyphen is unneeded when capitalization or italicization makes grouping clear:

"old English scholar": an old person who is English and a scholar, or an old scholar who studies English
"Old English scholar": a scholar of Old English.
"De facto proceedings" (not "de-facto")
If, however, there is no risk of ambiguities, it may be written without a hyphen: Sunday morning walk.

Hyphenated compound adjectives may have been formed originally by an adjective preceding a noun:

"Round table" → "round-table discussion"
"Blue sky" → "blue-sky law"
"Red light" → "red-light district"
"Four wheels" → "four-wheel drive" (the singular, not the plural, is used)
Others may have originated with a verb preceding an adjective or adverb:

"Feel good" → "feel-good factor"
"Buy now, pay later" → "buy-now pay-later purchase"
Yet others are created with an original verb preceding a preposition.

"Stick on" → "stick-on label"
"Walk on" → "walk-on part"
"Stand by" → "stand-by fare"
"Roll on, roll off" → "roll-on roll-off ferry"
The following compound adjectives are always hyphenated when they are not written as one word:

An adjective preceding a noun to which -d or -ed has been added as a past-participle construction, used before a noun:
"loud-mouthed hooligan"
"middle-aged lady"
"rose-tinted glasses"
A noun, adjective, or adverb preceding a present participle:
"an awe-inspiring personality"
"a long-lasting affair"
"a far-reaching decision"
Numbers spelled out or as numerics:
"seven-year itch"
"five-sided polygon"
"20th-century poem"
"30-piece band"
"tenth-storey window"
A numeric with the affix -fold has a hyphen (15-fold), but when spelled out takes a solid construction (fifteenfold).
Numbers, spelled out or numeric, with added -odd: sixteen-odd, 70-odd.
Compound adjectives with high- or low-: "high-level discussion", "low-price markup".
Colours in compounds:
"a dark-blue sweater"
"a reddish-orange dress".
Fractions as modifiers are hyphenated: "five-eighths inches", but if numerator or denominator are already hyphenated, the fraction itself does not take a hyphen: "a thirty-three thousandth part". (Fractions used as nouns have no hyphens: "I ate only one third of the pie.")
Comparatives and superlatives in compound adjectives also take hyphens:
"the highest-placed competitor"
"a shorter-term loan"
However, a construction with most is not hyphenated:
"the most respected member".
Compounds including two geographical modifiers:
"Afro-Cuban"
"African-American" (sometimes)
"Anglo-Asian"
But not
"Central American".
The following compound adjectives are not normally hyphenated:

Where there is no risk of ambiguity:
"a Sunday morning walk"
Left-hand components of a compound adjective that end in -ly that modify right-hand components that are past participles (ending in -ed):
"a hotly disputed subject"
"a greatly improved scheme"
"a distantly related celebrity"
Compound adjectives that include comparatives and superlatives with more, most, less or least:
"a more recent development"
"the most respected member"
"a less opportune moment"
"the least expected event"
Ordinarily hyphenated compounds with intensive adverbs in front of adjectives:
"very much admired classicist"
"really well accepted proposal"


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_compound#Hyphenated_com...
Juli DS
Argentina
Local time: 04:29
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Muchas gracias, has sido de gran ayuda...

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Claudia Vera
1 hr
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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