In general Italian adjectives follow the noun:

　　è una lingua difficile. (It is a difficult language.)

　　Marina è una ragazza generosa. (Marina is a generous girl.)

　　Certain common adjectives, however, generally come before the noun:

　　Anna è una cara amica. (Anna is a dear friend.)

　　Gino è un bravo dottore. (Gino is a good doctor.)

　　è un brutt’affare. (It’s a bad situation.)

　　The most common adjectives that come before the noun are listed in the table below.

　　ITALIAN ADJECTIVES THAT PRECEDE NOUNS

　　bello

　　beautiful

　　bravo

　　good, able

　　brutto

　　ugly

　　buono

　　good

　　caro

　　dear

　　cattivo

　　bad

　　giovane

　　young

　　grande

　　large; great

　　lungo

　　long

　　nuovo

　　new

　　piccolo

　　small, little

　　stesso

　　same

　　vecchio

　　old

　　vero

　　true

　　But even these adjectives must follow the noun for emphasis or contrast, and when modified by an adverb:

　　Oggi non porta l’abito vecchio, porta un abito nuovo. (Today he is not wearing the old suit, he is wearing a new suit.)

　　Abitano in una casa molto piccola. (They live in a very small house.)