Cuando se pone el adjetivo antes del sustantivo?

[Jonathan D.]

Muy buenos días a todos,

A veces veo que viene el adjetivo ANTES del sustantivo. Por ejemplo; "A muy temprana edad ella sintió igual vocación que la de su padre, para con prematura madurez iniciarse a los 16 años en el magisterio".

¿Porque noes "edad temprana", así que el sustantivo sigue el adjetivo?

English translation:
Sometimes I see the adjective come before the noun. [see example above]

Why isn't it "edad temprana", so that the noun follows the the adjective??

Corrections welcome y gracias de antemano,

Jonathan D.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I think it's merely a matter of euphony and emphasis.

In your text, the adjective is placed before the noun, to make an emphasis on how early she found her call and how fast she started her career.

For one more example, in "tengo un viejo auto azul", I say "viejo" before the noun; first, to emphasize the age of the car (unless there is something very important about the color, I wouldn't use it before), and to separate it from the second adjective.

[Jonathan D.]

Thank you, Angelica.

When learning Spanish I often heard the adjective go after the noun in a sentence. the truth is I feel it is nice to know that "el auto viejo" puede ser "El viejo auto", sometimes!

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I think most Spanish lessons emphasize the usual place of the adjective after the noun because in English and some other languages, the adjective goes first. But Spanish has a very flexible sentence order, which serves different purposes.
You will find the most unusual alterations in the order of sentences in poetry and written language.