Log inSign up

El crítico viejo camina muy despacio.

El crítico viejo camina muy despacio.
The elderly critic walks very slowly.
From Lesson 278:Adjective meaning shifts (viejo, grande, pobre)·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of El crítico viejo camina muy despacio.

viejo
old
caminar
to walk
muy
very
despacio
slowly
el crítico
the critic

Questions & Answers about El crítico viejo camina muy despacio.

Why is viejo placed after crítico in this sentence?
In Spanish, placing viejo after the noun means 'old in age' or 'elderly'. So, el crítico viejo is a critic who is an older man. If we put it before the noun (el viejo crítico), the meaning changes to 'long-time'. That would describe a person who has been a critic for a long time, even if they are only 30 years old!
Wait, isn't crítico an adjective meaning 'critical'?
It can be! But here, the article El tells us it is being used as a noun meaning 'the critic' (a person who writes reviews). If you wanted to say 'the critical old man', you could say el viejo crítico, using viejo as the noun (the old man) and crítico as the descriptive adjective.
Can I say lentamente instead of despacio?
Yes, absolutely! Both muy despacio and muy lentamente mean 'very slowly' and are interchangeable here. Despacio is just slightly more common in everyday spoken Spanish.
Is it polite to call a person viejo?
It can sound a bit blunt depending on the context. While viejo literally means 'old', Spanish speakers often prefer words like mayor (older) or anciano (elderly) to be more respectful. However, in a direct physical description like this sentence, viejo is the standard grammatical opposite of joven (young).

Learn El crítico viejo camina muy despacio and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →