Position of adjectives in Spanish

In Spanish, adjectives can be placed either before or after the noun they modify.

1. Noun + adjective

Read and listen to these examples:

In the examples above, the adjective is placed after the noun. It describes a noun and attributes a quality to it that differentiates it. For example, the adjective japonés makes a distinction between "Japanese computers" and computers from other countries.

2. Adjective + noun

Now, read and listen to these examples:

In the examples above, the adjective is placed before the noun. The adjective is not describing the noun in order to differentiate it, instead it is expressing that this quality is naturally associated with the noun it modifies. For example, la nieve, la sangre and las lechugas have characteristic colours, so the adjectives are emphasising them, but not differentiating them from other nouns.

Bear in mind that sometimes we place the adjective in front of the noun simply to emphasise/highlight that quality, even if it is not an adjective naturally associated wth the noun; for example:

The second example is more emphatic.

Again, the second example is more emphatic.

3. Meaning depends on the order

However, there are other times when the meaning of the adjective changes, depending on its position before or after the noun.  

Read and listen to these examples:

In the examples above, the adjectives nueva and pobre change meaning depending on their position before or after the noun.

The position of the adjective prior to the noun generally adds an extra nuance to the meaning. Bear in mind though that this difference in meaning/extra nuance is not applicable to absolutely all nouns. Sometimes this nuance happens with specific nouns.

Have a look at this list of common meaning-changing adjectives:

Here are some contrasting examples:

If we say:

We are referring to Marisa been unfortunate, pitiable, unlucky; we are not saying that she is "poor" meaning without money.

but if we say:

Here we are referring to a guy who is poor (he doesn't have any money)

If we say:

This is frequently understood as a new bike in the sense of having been bought recently, a brand-new bike.

However if we say:

This could mean a newly-acquired bike or maybe a bike that is in a very good condition (an old bike that has been repaired), the bike is new "for that person" but it's not necessarily a brand-new bike.

If we say:

This is referring to a friend of long-standing, a friendship that started long ago.

But look at the meaning when the adjective is after the noun:

See also Bueno, malo, grande become buen, mal, gran before a noun (apócope).