# Definite adjective declension



## 盲人瞎馬

bun         *bunul        *bună        *buna*
buni        *bunii        *bune        *bunele*

How and when are you supposed to use the definite declension of adjectives? Normally I'd use them as such (with nouns in the definite):

Mașinile sunt rapidele - The cars are fast
Sunt rapidele mașinile - They are the fast cars
Sunt mașinile rapidele- They are the fast cars

But apparently that's not correct. How are they supposed to be used?


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## farscape

They are not correct, that's true :

Mașinile sunt rapide - The cars are fast
Sunt rapide mașinile astea? - Are these cars fast?
Rapidele mașini care vin acum... - The fast cars arriving now (More of a writer's way to emphasize a quality/feature of the cars or to set a certain mood in their work by reversing the order).

Here is another example which actually depicts, in this particular case, the right way of using the declension:

Bune maniere (as opposed to maniere bune - Good manners 

Bunele maniere se învață de-acasă - Good manners are taught at home. 

For this expression having the adjective proceedings the noun is the "correct" way and that's how it's used in both written and spoken Romanian.

The idea is to emphasize that The good manners and not any manners (are dealt with in a certain way)

Later,


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## 盲人瞎馬

farscape said:


> They are not correct, that's true :
> 
> The idea is to emphasize that The good manners and not any manners (are dealt with in a certain way)



But I dont understand the difference in meaning between attaching the definite article to the adjective or to the noun. I.e. the difference between "Bune mânierile" and "Bunele maniere". Are both translated as "the good manners"? The whole "to emphasize" explanation sounds ambiguous.


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## farscape

In that very particular example, the article is attached only to the adjective, it's an expression.

I used it to highlight the fact that by reversing the order noun-adjective, one can create a stylistic effect.

In regular use the article goes to the noun.

BTW, you can't have "bune manierele" only bune maniere or bunele maniere - the article goes to the first member of the pair.


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