Compramos el cuadro feo.

It can mean either one. For -ar verbs, the nosotros form in the present tense and the preterite is the same: compramos.

So context tells you which meaning is intended:

• Cada semana compramos arte. = present, we buy
• Ayer compramos arte. = past, we bought

On its own, Compramos el cuadro feo is grammatically ambiguous.

Because Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed. The verb ending already tells you the subject.

• compramos = we buy / we bought

You could say Nosotros compramos el cuadro feo, but that usually adds emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

El is the definite article, so it points to a specific painting or picture: the one both speaker and listener can identify.

• el cuadro feo = a specific ugly painting/picture
• un cuadro feo = any ugly painting/picture, or one being mentioned for the first time

So el suggests the ugly painting, not just an ugly painting.

Because in Spanish, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So the neutral, standard order is:

• el cuadro feo

That is more natural than putting the adjective first.

Spanish can sometimes place the adjective before the noun, but that often sounds more literary, expressive, or marked.

Yes, it is grammatical, but it is less neutral.

el feo cuadro sounds more emphatic or stylistically marked, as if you are really highlighting the ugliness. In ordinary speech, el cuadro feo is the more normal choice.

Because adjectives in Spanish usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

Here, cuadro is masculine singular, so the adjective is also masculine singular:

• el cuadro feo

If the noun changed, the adjective would change too:

• la casa fea
• los cuadros feos
• las casas feas

Yes. In this sentence, feo modifies cuadro.

The structure is:

• el cuadro feo = noun phrase
• compramos = verb

So the meaning is that the painting/picture is ugly, not that the buying was ugly or unpleasant.

Usually cuadro means painting, picture, or sometimes framed picture, depending on context.

In a sentence like this, many learners first understand it as painting, but the exact English word can vary with context.

It does not always mean the same thing as foto:

• foto = photo
• cuadro = painting / framed picture / artwork

Two syllables: FEH-o.

So:

• feo = fe-o

This is useful because English speakers sometimes try to compress it too much. In normal Spanish pronunciation, the two vowels are kept separate.

You would make the article, noun, and adjective plural:

• Compramos los cuadros feos.

Notice the agreement:

• el → los
• cuadro → cuadros
• feo → feos

The verb compramos stays the same because the subject is still we.