When to put an adjective before a noun?
Now and again throughout posts I'll see adjectives put before the noun.
I understand that if something is innate, then the adjective comes first.
So, since snow is naturally white, you would put: blanca nieve.
But if a dog came along, you would then have: nieve amarilla.
What are some other reasons to put the adjective first?
8 Answers
Different types of words behave differently, but the most general rule is that adjectives used after the verb restrict the meaning, and when they precede the noun, they just clarify without restrictions:
Iba a casa por las calles estrechas de Bogotá.
Iba a casa por las estrechas calles de Bogotá.
In the first one, the streets we are talking about are restricted to the narrow ones; apparently, we avoided the wide ones. In the second one, we took different streets, so it appears that Bogota streets happen to be narrow (I made the sentence up, by the way; I have never been to Bogota)
From a library book:
Putting a descriptive adjective before the noun generally indicates an inseparable relationship between the two: El buen esposo = the husband we already knew was a good one... El esposo bueno = the husband we are now told is a good one
and:
There is one other adjective--grande--that, when placed before the noun, changes in form and meaning... La gran mujer = the great (famous) woman...La mujer grande = the big (in size) woman
Could you try to explain this again in other words? I feel like I understand it, but I think if I hear it a little differently it'll become clearer to me....
Let me try a more extreme "translation":
Non-restrictive (it applies to all):
Le di caramelos a los simpáticos niños = I gave sweets to the children; they were nice children, by the way
Restrictive (we refer only to those matching the adjective)
Le di caramelos a los niños simpáticos = I gave sweets only to the children that were nice; the others got no sweets whatsoever
Here's a good page you should review:
I think I understand it...
I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils;
Of course the daffodils were golden, almost all daffodils are. Saying "I saw a crowd, a host of daffodils which were golden" would be ridiculous here, even if it wasn't long and awkward, because i'm not saying that the daffodils were golden in order to accurately depict them or specify which daffodils I mean. That adjective is there because it's nice there.
Where as if I was talking to you and I said "I saw a bunch of flowers which were yellow" though it would be a bit awkward, it wouldn't seem ridiculous.
Am I way off?
I had to search for where I saw it, but this is what is on StudySpanish.com:
Sometimes, a descriptive adjective can precede the noun. If the adjective is descriptive, but speaks of a quality that is inherent and usually taken for granted, the adjective comes first.
la blanca nieve
the white snow (snow is inherently white)
los altos picos
the tall peaks (peaks are inherently tall)
The way I understand it now, adjectives that show amount or quanity go before the noun and adjectives that show quality go after the noun. This is a general rule of course.
We say muchas gracias. That shows an amount.
Also when an adjective is placed before a noun it makes the meaning of the adjective stronger.
We say, feliz cumpleaños. 
And then there are those adjectives that are supposed to go before the noun. At my level of Spanish I choose not to try to remember a list of adjectives that go before a noun or try to memorise a set of rules because understanding the general rules are enough for me now. I think I will pick up on adjectives that go before nouns as I learn the language.
We say, Santa Biblia.
Just my thoughts on this topic
Amor y paz
"Blanca nieve" is poetic.
The ordinary use would be nieve blanca or nieve amarilla.
