Puro/a

[laepelba]

I understand that when used after a noun, puro/a means "pure", and am trying to understand that when used before a noun, puro/a means "nothing but".

My examples:
Esta bebida es leche pura. (This drink is pure milk. As in, natural milk...)
Esta bebida es pura leche. (This drink is nothing but milk. As in, you might have been expecting a latte, but there's nothing in the glass but milk. No espresso.)

Am I correct?

Please give me more examples. Thank you!

[JPablo]

Well, here are a bunch of examples and usages from Oxford Superlex bilingual

puro / pura adjective
1 a
(sin mezcla) pure; puro zumo de uva = pure grape juice;
es de pura lana = it’s pure wool;
el aire puro del campo = the fresh o clean country air

1 b (casto, inocente) ‹ mujer › chaste, pure; ‹ niño › innocent; ‹mirada/amor › innocent, pure

pura sangre = thoroughbred

2 (mero, simple) (delante del n):
es la pura verdad = it’s the plain o honest truth
(colloq); acertó por pura casualidad = she got it right by pure o sheer chance;
fue pura coincidencia = it was pure o sheer coincidence;
esta carne es pura grasa = this meat is nothing but fat o is all fat;
es puro músculo = he’s all muscle;
lo hizo por puro capricho = she did it purely on a whim;
se quedó dormido de puro cansancio = he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion;
en puro invierno = in the middle of winter

3 (AmL fam) (sólo):
en esa oficina trabajan puras mujeres = there are only women in that office, there aren’t any men at all in that office;
a ese bar van puros viejos = only old men go to that bar;
son puras mentiras = it’s just a pack of lies (colloq), it’s all lies

And these are Moliner examples,
puro, -a (del lat. «purus»)
1 adj. No mezclado con otra cosa: ‘Blanco puro. Cobre puro’. ¤ Sin ninguna sustancia extraña que le haga perder valor o le comunique cualidades perjudiciales: ‘Agua pura. Aire puro’. ¤ No adulterado con agua u otra cosa: ‘Leche pura. Vino puro’.

And a couple examples of mine,
Te doy todos los ejemplos anteriores por puro amor al arte... Que no es lo mismo que amor al arte puro...

Contesto este post por pura casualidad... porque he estado muy ocupado últimamente...

Y (chiste)
– ¿De donde viene la “pura lana virgen”?
– De las ovejas feas.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

[aleCcowaN]

pura leche - leche pura

that's an example about how an adjective affects a noun differently depending on position. The basic example is

los árboles viejos del bosque ---> among all trees in the woods, the fraction that gathers the old ones

los viejos árboles del bosque ---> (mostly) all the trees in the woods are old

árboles viejos ---> adjective qualifies but also specifies

viejos árboles ---> adjective qualifies as a group

leche pura ---> you can discriminate "leche pura" from "leche no pura"

pura leche ---> not such distinction, so it has to be another meaning ---> milk and nothing but milk

[laepelba]

Thanks, both of you, for the great examples. Alec - I actually understand the concept that the position of the adjective changes the meaning. I was specifically not sure about the word "pura"... Happy New Year to you both!

[JPablo]

You're welcome! And thank you!
Happy New Year!

[chileno]

También se puede decir:

"Este batido de plátano es pura leche", queriendo decir que tiene mucha leche o poco plátano.

[JPablo]

That's right!