Adjectives - Attributive position

Filed in English Grammar

Attributive adjectives go before the nouns they qualify.

• She is a beautiful (adjective) girl (noun).
  
• They have a big (adjective) house (noun) in the city.
  
• This is a vexed (adjective) problem (noun).
  
• She married a rich (adjective) man (noun).
  

Attributive adjectives after nouns

1. Attributive adjectives can be put after nouns. This happens in certain fixed phrases.

Examples are: Attorney General, court martial, poet laureate, time immemorial, heir apparent etc.

2. Certain adjectives ending in '-ible' and '-able' are also put after the nouns they qualify.

• We tried all means (noun) possible (adjective). (= We tried all means that were possible)
  
• Book all the tickets available. (=Book all the tickets that are available)
  

3. Adjectives are always placed after words like something, everything, anything, nothing, somebody, everybody, somewhere etc.

• Let us go somewhere quiet.
  
• I heard something interesting today.
  
• Nothing logical ever happens there.
  

Adjectives used only in attributive position

Some adjectives are used only in attributive position.

Common examples are: elder, eldest, live, little, mere, sheer etc.

• My elder sister is a doctor.
  
• Can you eat a live fish?
  
• They have a nice little house in the city.
  
• It was sheer madness.
  
• She is a mere child.
  

After a verb, other words must be used.

• She is older than me. (NOT …elder than me.)
  
• The fish is still alive. (NOT … is still live.)
  
• Their house is small. (NOT … is little)
  
• The baby fell asleep. (NOT …fell sleeping.)
  

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