"A certain man watches."

Translation: Un certo uomo guarda.

[ackworth]

Why do the words have to be in that particular order - in so many cases the noun comes before the adjective. Does it change the tone of the sentence? eg is the "certain man " of ill repute?

[JacktheBear]

I had the same query. The 'red shirt' is 'la maglia rossa' so why can't this be 'un uomo certo'?

[wiplala]

I am not sure, but I think that "un uomo certo" is a man who is quiet sure about himself and "un certo uomo" is a certain man

[Charlie2014a]

There's athread in the discussion forums on the positioning of adjectives in Italian. Unfortunately it doesn't cover this specific example http://www.duolingo.com/comment/1364238.