Generally speaking, adjectives are placed before the nouns they modify. A single present participle, past participle, and gerund are used as attributives and are placed in front of the noun (or pronoun) they modify. These are called pre-attributives.
For example:
a red flower/ an interesting story, where red and interesting are used as pre-attributives. Postfixed attributives, as the name suggests, are placed after the word being modified.
Can be divided into the following categories:
1 Adjective as post-attributive
1) In English, when some adjectives starting with a are used as attributives, they are placed after the modified word.
For example:
The girl asleep soundly is my younger sister.
The sleeping little girl is my little sister.
He is the greatest writer alive.
He is the greatest writer of our time.
- Adjectives ending in the suffixes -able and -ible tend to be placed behind when they have a strong predicate color and a passive meaning.
For example:
He is the only person reliable.
He is the only one you can trust.
I know the actor suitable for the part.
I know actors who are suitable for this role.
- When an adjective modifies an indefinite pronoun, it is usually placed after it.
For example:
I’d like something cheaper.
I want to buy something cheap.
There is something strange in the sky.
There is something strange in the sky.
- When an adjective phrase is used as a modifier, it is often placed in the rear.
For example:
He looked at the street full of cars.
He looked at the street crowded with traffic.
2 adverbs as post-attributives
When an adverb is used as an attributive, it is usually placed after the noun and expresses time, place, etc. in its meaning.
For example:
The weather here is very nice.
The weather here is very good.
The buildings around are mostly of modern constructions.
3 The present participle phrase is used as a post-attributive
In English, the present participle can be prepositioned or postpositioned as an attributive. But now when a participle phrase is used as an attributive, it must be placed behind the modified component to form a post-positioned attributive.
For example:
They built a highway leading into the mountains.
They built a road leading into the mountains.
We met a group of pupils returning from school.
We ran into a group of kids coming back from school.
Now the participle phrase is used as a post-attributive, which is equivalent to an attributive clause in meaning. But when switching, pay attention to the subject and tense of the verb.
For example, the above two sentences can be transformed into:
They built a highway which led into the mountains.
We met a group of pupils who returned from school.
4 Past participle phrases as post-attributives
When the past participle phrase is used as a post-attributive, it expresses passive meaning, perfect meaning or state meaning.
For example:
What’s the language spoken in that area?
What language is spoken in that area?
Is there anything planned for tonight?
Is there any event tonight?
5 Verbs with infinitives as postpositional attributives
The post-attributive of the verb infinitive expresses different semantic relations with the modified component.
- Indicates the verb-object relationship.
The infinitive of the verb as a modifier is a logical predicate, and the noun being modified is the direct object of the infinitive of the verb.
For example:
I have a lot of work to do today.
I have a lot of work to do today.
He had a big family to support.
He has a large family that he needs to support.
- Indicates the subject-predicate relationship.
The modified noun represents a logical subject, and the verb-infinitive structure that modifies it represents a logical predicate.
For example:
He’s always the first to come.
He is always the first to come.
Among the men to take part in the work, he is probably the most active.
Of all the men who were to take part in the work, he was perhaps the most active.
- Indicates a modification relationship.
The infinitive of the verb plays a descriptive role in describing the component it modifies.
For example:
It’s already time to start planting trees.
It's time to plant trees.
He had no chance to go schoolin those years.
At that time, he had no chance to go to school.
- Indicates a peer relationship.
The infinitive and the modified noun are in a parallel relationship and only play an explanatory role.
For example:
Soon came the order to start the general attack.
The order to launch a general offensive was quickly issued.
We got no instructions to leave the city.
We had no instructions to leave the city.
- Verb infinitive compound structure as post attributive
The compound structure of verb infinitive is the same as the phrase of infinitive, it can only be placed behind the modified component, and it can be used as post attributive.
For example:
He bought a house for his children to live in.
He bought a house for the children to live in.
It’s difficult for us to get there on time.
We had a hard time getting there on time.
6 Prepositional phrases as post-attributives
Prepositional phrases are used as post-modifiers to express semantic relations such as time, place, scope, category, source, verb-object, and apposition.
For example:
The weather in Beijing is colder than that in Guangzhou.
(Location) The weather in Beijing is colder than in Guangzhou.
People in the world play basketball.
(Range) People all over the world play basketball.
His love for his country is very great.
(Vib) He loves his country very much.
The city of New York is very large.
(Same position) New York City is huge.
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