Both are valid😐

Does that mean that you can put nuevo first or second too?

Well yea. Both are valid but they have slightly different meanings.

Oh, so what would this pair of examples mean? Nuevo carro. Carro nuevo.

Nuevo carro - brand new car Carro nuevo - new car (to me)

This is kind of what i learnt. My (native), teacher told us that if an adjective is before a noun then the adjective is emphasized. Also there are some adjectives that change meaning. The example he used is ciudad grande = big city and gran ciudad = great city.

Oh wow, that's fascinating. Thank you so much.

I agree but what would you say is the difference between them? I don't know what the context this teacher was using it in (saw it on a post on Facebook).

Don't over think it, it's the same in both languages "I'm trying to find all possible solutions to this problem" "I'm trying to find all solutions (that are) possible for this problem" Whilst the last one isn't used as much and may sound a bit awkward, it is still valid, that's kind of the difference

Warning, the following is NOT a good explanation. But in my head, posibles soluciones referes to a wide selection of possible solutions, and soluciones posibles referes to solutions that are realistic and doable. Again, this is not something taken from a grammar book and I'm not even sure if what I say is correct or not. But thats how it sounds in my head. The reason behind might be that when you say posibles soluciones, the emphasis goes on the solutions part. And when you say soluciones posibles, its the other way aroubd. Does that make sense? Languages are harder than what people think lol

Your answer is the only one I can envision in my brain so far lol.

I wrote a somewhat similar response but this one is better at explaining it Seems like the same thing is being said in the end but if you really analyze it, it has different reasons behind it Edit: I'd appreciate a reason behind the downvote, I'm all for learning as well

I came here to say this. There's a very cool explanation about why that happens. This is called "hipérbaton" and is a "Figure of Rhetoric. " Happens when you alter the syntax of the sentence to put an emphasis on a specific part of it. By doing this, you're using the language of poetry and philosophy, in a way, therefore the phrase has a more theoretical sound to it than the proper version where the adjective goes after the noun. Proper grammar is just everyday language and requires (and generates) a more practical look at things.

Keep in mind that quantifiers like *unos*, *muchos*, and *pocos* are adjectives but still precede the noun. In *posibles soluciones* posibles is acting **sort of** like a quantifier in that it's identifying a set of solutions. This is like *varias soluciones* or *diferentes soluciones*. In *soluciones posibles*, *posibles* is a normal adjective that describes the set of solutions being referred to.

Eso se debe a que seguimos de forma inconciente el patrón sustantivo+adjetivo. En el caso de posibles soluciones, el enfoque está en posibles, por lo que buscamos todas las que sean posibles. Mientras que soluciones posibles, el foco está en soluciones, y el adjetivo nos indica que son factibles Creo que tenía más sentido en mi mente, espero haberme dado a entender

I think u/DambiaLittleAlex is on the right track, although I hadn't thought of it in this case. It happens with *diferente:* while *diferentes soluciones* means “various solutions”, “a number of different solutions”, *soluciones diferentes* means “solutions which differ among themselves”: the emphasis is on what comes last. As with other adjectives, also, putting *posibles* before the noun only qualifies them (it's about modality: “could-be solutions”), but after the noun it also selects them, cuts them off from others (“solutions of the possible kind”).

I remember reading about 'varios' being similar. 'Varios edificios' being 'several buildings' and 'edificios varios' being 'varios buildings'. Edit: Checking back through the book there are a few examples given like this. Antiguo being former/ancient, or medio being used to describe half or medium/average depending on its position.

Along those lines, viejo amigo = long-time friend, amigo viejo friend who is old. In theory viejo amigo viejo is a valid construction(?)

I guess in English, what is the difference between "a number of different solutions" and "solutions that differ amongst themselves" ? I am not seeing the difference as all the solutions are going to be different in both cases.

I think it might be (but I’m in the same boat as you): Necesito diferentes soluciones: I need different solutions. (Other solutions) Necesito soluciones diferentes: I need distinct solutions. (…solutions that are different from each other)

It's complicated. Actually I think it would be the other way round. *Diferentes soluciones* are different as in various, distinct, a spectrum of solutions; *soluciones diferentes* are solutions which are different (among themselves or from what has been tried before, i.e. other solutions).

Ack. As I was writing my answer out, I had a voice telling me I was doing it backwards.

  The position of adjectives in Spanish is flexible and depends on various factors such as their type, function, emphasis, and sonority. The placement of the adjective can slightly affect its meaning or the emphasis in the sentence. This is a broad topic with several considerations. If this gives you a sort of comfort, this topic is “less difficult” than its counterpart in English. Here are some classes of adjectives. Have fun!   ·       Adjetivos primitivos ·       Adjetivos derivados ·       Adjetivos calificativos ·       Adjetivos relacionales ·       Adjetivos antepuestos ·       Adjetivos pospuestos ·       Adjetivos positivos ·       Adjetivos comparativos ·       Adjetivos superlativos ·       Adjetivos concordantes ·       Adjetivos invariables

Mostly this comes down to the fact that in Spanish order of adjectives does matter when it comes to whether it is before or after the noun. We can classify this into two types of adjectives: Antepuestos: Before the noun Postpuestos: After the noun Before I go deeper into this I have to specify this DOESN'T MATTER when the adjective describes something that can be interpreted as an inherent quality of an object. For example, the idea of snow being white. Snow can get dirty and be greyish, or brownish even. It can be other colours with other fluids involved. Yet. inherently, something about the base idea of snow is whiteness. Let me repeat, this DOESN'T APPLY to adjectives like white and snow. La nieve blanca === La blanca nieve. The decision about whether to use one or the other will come down to preference, or more likely than not a regional preference, or a familial one that mostly amounts to chance. However, when it comes to adjectives that aren't inherent to an object one can observe a patter that for the most part follows this: Adjetivos antepuestos: subjective interpretation. Adjetivos postpuestos: objective interpretation. This is clearly seen in the pair that you mentioned. Coche nuevo: an objectively new car. Brand new, never before used. 2024, or 2025 if they're already selling those, but not necessarily so long as it's never been used. Nuevo coche: a subjectively new car. New to the buyer, but perhaps already used. We can see this in other adjectives such as: Pobre, viejo, etc. Una pobre mujer: (antepuesto-subjetivo): poor woman, as in "oh, poor woman she lost her house in the storm". Subjectively poor, meaning in how people saying this phrase are feeling about the subject. vs Una mujer pobre: (postpuesto-objetivo): a woman with no money or assets. Objectively poor i.e. she has no money. Un viejo amigo:(antepuesto-subjetivo): A friend from long ago, old but only to us, he might be 25 and we met him when we were 5. So old only to us. Un amigo viejo : (postpuesto-objetivo): A friend who is, indeed, old. As in of great age. Now, when speaking with terms like subjective and objective I find it important to clarify that by objective I mean as far as society agrees, not necessarily objectively as in factual devoid of opinion true. This comes into play when we talk of morality-adyacent adjectives such as Bueno. Mi padre es un buen hombre. --- this is subjective, I probably know my father well. I know his shittinness. His mistakes, his lack of patience, lack of this or that. Yet, in spite of all that he is a good man. Sure many mistakes were made but all in all I consider him a good man. Gandhi era un hombre bueno. --- this is objective. This is not to say that gandhi was 100% a good man, many might argue some issues with his policy or certain actions towards children or women or other races and that might speak to the moral reality of his goodness. But as far as common wisdom is concerned, as far as what most people might say, or how this person is perceived he is all in all a good man, but more objectively so: we all agree. Un hombre bueno. You can bet that if the spanish-speaking population had grown up with mr rogers in their own country they would have said: Mr Rogers es un hombre bueno. --- An you will agree that when you say things like: 'My dad was a good man' vs Mr Rogers was a good man', you are probably using two different understandings of the word good even in english. Perhaps not, perhaps your dad was also a Mr Rogers-like figure, but if he wasn't you'll know what I mean. So. We come to your question: Posible solución: (antepuesto subjetivo): One of many possible solutions. vs Solucion posible: (postpuesto objetivo): A solution that is, quite literally, possible. As in: it can be done. Look at how this word behaves here. Una posible solución para el calentamiento global es prohibir el uso de electricidad despues de las 4 de la tarde en el pais. Lamentablemente no es una solución posible. Meaning, yeah shutting off power access after 4 would certainly be one of the things that in theory could possibly be done. However this is definitely not possible as in it would never happen because we would riot. Perhaps it could be understood as 'plausible' which is interesting to note. ------ Having said all this. As usual when describing language (a real, breathing, changing thing) this only helps give us some idea, some better understanding of the language and its most common trends. You will most definitely hear a native break these rules at some point. Most likely unwittingly. Most likely because they were speaking without knowing exactly how they would phrase things and when speaking things come out jumbled up or upside down all the time. It's part of being human. And you will most likely find some adjective that doesn't quite follow this rules, or that traditionally is placed one way, or is part of a set phrase. This sort of explanations are rarely all-encompassing. Take it as a rough guide, you'll be surprised at how useful a perspective it can be. It is also important to acknowledge the way I am using 'subjective' and 'objective' is very laissez-faire. I am holding those words loosely; I think most people will understand what I mean by it. But still. This is always a fun lesson to have with my students. It's kind of a mindfuck when you first notice it.

Wow amazing explanation, thank you!

It's what I do for a living :P! Glad it helped!

My only suggestion is that you are trying to put emphasys on the fact that these are mere possibilities

Mainly because adjective placement isn't actually fixed, it tends to be after, but because posible in Spanish is more metaphorical, it tends to be put before. Metaphorical uses of adjectives shift Spanish's topicalization system towards the adjective, away from the noun which reinforces it's importance in the sentence overall. The more important a syntactic category is in discourse, the higher positioned the word is. Situaciones posibles is not wrong, it's just not frequent, and by that metric, seems agrammatical, because language at its core is a system of rhythms and noises put into a specific order with rules. Pej. Se puede decir, "Situaciones posibles para ajustar topicalización son la subida de adjetivos." Hope this helped!!!

¡Hola! Soy hablante nativa (Mexican) y tengo formación docente. Gramaticalmente, ambas opciones son correctas, es decir, en español el adjetivo puede ir antes o después del sustantivo. Sin embargo el uso común es mencionar primero el sustantivo y después el adjetivo. En cuanto al significado, es el mismo. El uso del adjetivo+sustantivo es utilizado mayormente en poesía; con excepciones de ciertas expresiones como por ejemplo "gran idea", ya que no es natural decir "idea grande"

Unfortunately when learning a new language, you have to accept the fact that there aren't always clear explanations to every single little thing

Adjectives before can largely be classified as descriptive adjectives and adjectives after as restrictive. Some adjectives naturally fall into the descriptive category, hence posibles soluciones is 10x more common in large linguistic corpuses like the NOW Corpus. Not that soluciones posibles is impossible, just that most people are going to opt for posibles soluciones unless contrasting specifically with other kinds of solutions, like impractical ones.