4.1 Adjectives

Notice, however, that in English adjectives normally go before the noun, e.g.:

He's a very old man.
(És un home molt gran.)

The Gothic Quarter.
(El Barri Gòtic.)

Notice also that we do not normally use and between adjectives before the noun, e.g.:

They showed us some small round stones.
(Ens van mostrar unes pedres petites i rodones.)

However, with two or more colours, we use and, e.g.:

green and white curtains
(cortines de color verd i blanc)

a red, white and blue flag
(una bandera de color vermell, blanc i blau)

As in Catalan, English uses adjectives with a noun (attributive use) and after be, become, get, etc. (predicative use), e.g.:

An old man ~ The man is old.
(L'home és gran.)

A red and yellow flag. ~ The flag was red and yellow.
(La bandera era vermella i groga.)

I got very tired.
(Em vaig cansar molt.)

As distinct from Catalan, in English a noun is normally obligatory with the predicative use of adjectives, e.g.:

Un cec ens explicava la seva situació.
(A blind man told us about his situation.)

Una cega ens explicava la seva situació.
(A blind woman told us about her situation.)

Uns quants cecs ens explicaven la seva situació.
(Some blind people told us about their situation.)

See also the use of one(s).

However, we can use the with, e.g.: blind, deaf, living, dead, homeless, wounded, disabled, handicapped, rich, poor, unemployed, young, etc. for a whole group of people, e.g.:

The rich have more benefits than the poor.
(Els rics tenen més avantatges que els pobres.)

An association for the blind.
(Una associació per als cecs.)

After the battle they buried the dead and took the wounded to hospital.
(Després de la batalla, van enterrar els morts i van portar els ferits a l'hospital.)

Nationality adjectives and languages are normally written with a capital first letter, e.g.:

Rosa is Catalan, but her husband is Scottish.
(La Rosa és catalana, però el seu marit és escocès.)

Pat speaks French and German very well.
(En Pat parla molt bé el francès i l'alemany.)