Learn Italian: Buona fortuna per il lavoro nuovo!

In Italian, you wish someone good luck "for" something, so we use per (for) instead of con (with). Translating it word-for-word as con il lavoro nuovo would sound unnatural to Italians.

Why is it buona and not buono?

Fortuna (luck) is a feminine noun because it ends in -a. The adjective for "good" has to match the gender of the noun it describes, so it becomes the feminine buona.

Why does buona come before the noun, but nuovo comes after?

In Italian, most adjectives like nuovo (new) go after the noun, which gives us il lavoro nuovo. However, a few very common, short adjectives like buono (good) and bello (beautiful) usually go right before the noun.

Could I say il nuovo lavoro instead of il lavoro nuovo?

Yes, you can! Nuovo is a special adjective that can go either before or after the noun. Putting it before (il nuovo lavoro) adds a little more emotional emphasis on it being a fresh start, while putting it after (il lavoro nuovo) is just a plain statement of fact.