adjectives before or after the noun

[george willms]

What's the scoop on "court(e)"? Une courte pause / des manches courtes. But it's not on any lists that I can find.

[Neil Coffey]

I think this is quite a good example of what I mentioned in the other thread.

In "une courte pause", you're not imagining two categories of "short/long" so much as 'measuring'.

In the example with "Manche", on the other hand, you're saying which of two categories- short va long- is involved.

[George Hunt]

Is there anything in common between  the change of sense  with other adjectives  depending on whether they are placed before or after the noun- any kind of  a loose rule?

I don't mean like "brave homme" and "homme brave"  where the two senses are fairly distinct -just  those adjectives  where the sense is very similar  but the emphasis   or the implied context changes (if I have understood correctly).

Or is it just case by case (or group of cases by group of cases)  -as I seem to remember being taught at school?

[Neil Coffey]

So as a very very vague generalisation, I suppose I would say that the adjective before the noun indicates a more "inherent" property of the noun, whereas afterwards it indicates a less inherent property, one that is more down to judgement or a an arbitrary classification (including a "political" classification such as nationality).

However, you'll easily find exceptions or problematic cases (for a start, colour adjectives practically always come after the noun, yet on one level, colour is an inherent property of matter-- though maybe that's not necessarily how humans tend to envisage it).