The sentences are: "Es un profesor muy bueno y un buen padre." and "Su padre es médico y es un gran hombre." Why is bueno used in the first instance and buen in the second? And why is gran used instead of grande? The dictionary says that buen and gran are contractions, but I don't understand why the regular forms (bueno or grande) can't be used instead.

Question

The sentences are: "Es un profesor muy bueno y un buen padre."  and "Su padre es médico y es un gran hombre." Why is bueno used in the first instance and buen in the second?  And why is gran used instead of grande?  The dictionary says that buen and gran are contractions, but I don't understand why the regular forms (bueno or grande) can't be used instead.

drwls · Answer

Gran/grande, and buen/bueno(a) are equivalent in meaning, but the shorter version must be used when the adjective precedes the noun.

SraJMcGin · Answer

When the adjective precedes a masculine singular noun. Es un buen chico Es una buena chica Son unos buenos chicos Son unas buenas chicas. Sra

minka · Answer

masculine and feminine i think i'm not AMAZING at spanish because i used to do french but masculine and feminine are the main culprits