Questions tagged [postpositive-adjectives]

Postpositive adjectives are adjectives that follow the nouns they modify. In English, prepositive adjectives, or adjectives that precede the noun they modify, are much more common. Postpositive adjectives in English are often used in terms from other languages, especially legal or financial terms (accounts payable) or official positions (attorney general).

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
0 votes
1 answer
25 views

What does 'a man annoyed' mean and is it grammatically correct?

Writing in September 1785 to his envoys in Pune — the seat of the rival Maratha state — Tipu Sultan was a man annoyed. There had been a dispute between local Muslim and Hindus, and Tipu's agent had ...
RADS's user avatar
  • 427
1 vote
0 answers
19 views

placing adjectives after nouns or using adjective clauses instead?

I have come across different sentences in which adjectives are placed after nouns. I did search for the reason and got to know the idea of the postpositive adjectives which are, in general, used in a ...
Meow's user avatar
  • 1,213
1 vote
1 answer
51 views

Why these adjectives comes after the noun, is this case?

The Headline: "ee the Read Like the Wind Newsletter Our critic’s latest recommendations for books old and new include “Pigeon” and “The Odyssey.” why "old" and "new" after ...
ilma pav's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
88 views

Are postpositive adjectives examples of reduced relative clauses?

We have a variety of products [that are] available to purchase. He found a house [that was] devoid of life. Traditionally, adjectives precede their associated noun. This, however, isn't the case ...
MJ Ada's user avatar
  • 187
1 vote
1 answer
57 views

What is the function of the word "possible" in "interpret this information in the quickest way possible"?

This is where most people are impeded from being an iconoclast. For example, when confronted with information streaming from the eyes, the brain will interpret this information in the quickest way ...
ohmpr's user avatar
  • 13
1 vote
2 answers
67 views

Adjective Placement

I have been watching some videos on YouTube in order to improve my listening skills. But, at some point, I found myself struggling with the sentence below: We have the refrigerator or the fridge, ...
Vinycius's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
15 views

Bill alone cannot solve this problem

a. Bill alone cannot solve this problem. He needs help. b. Bill alone cannot solve this problem. Everyone else in the class can. Are both of the above grammatically correct? Are they correctly ...
azz's user avatar
  • 2,241
0 votes
0 answers
85 views

Adjectives in the introductory there structure can come after nouns?

I have seen in some grammar book the following pattern, which allows to place an adjective after a noun: A shelf is empty. ➔ There is a shelf empty. I want to know whether the above pattern is a ...
Later's user avatar
  • 417
0 votes
1 answer
32 views

Postpositive adjective placement

Are 'small' and 'tall' in correct position in 'boys from small to tall play soccer' that means small and tall boys play soccer--from smallness to tallness?
djdkeodjj's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
677 views

"a movie worth seeing" or "a worth seeing movie"

It is a worth seeing movie and you must not miss it. It is a movie worth seeing and you must not miss it. Which is correct? What is the difference in meaning between these two sentences?
Ramteja Guthikonda's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
3k views

Why use an adjective after a noun?

I heard phrases like "place nice" and "place safe" several times during watching series and movies and each time I was wondering why an adjective stands after a noun while they ...
voloshin's user avatar
  • 261
0 votes
1 answer
62 views

To adverb or not to adverb? How about using a postpostive adjective?

I'm not sure what's up with this sentence, but I'm debating whether or not I should use an adverb here. 1) Not only do antipsychotics have debilitating side effects ranging from tardive dyskinesia,...
user27343's user avatar
  • 337
2 votes
1 answer
336 views

provided chart vs chart provided

Which one is correct? The provided charts illustrate the information about employment. or The charts provided illustrate the information about employment.
jirapat ton's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
648 views

How to use "gold" as an adjective of colour [duplicate]

which one is correct or more natural: "the cake is purple and gold" or "the cake is purple and golden", and "a gold cake" or "a golden cake" still speaking of its colour? Thank you all.
zenith3's user avatar
  • 927
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

postpositive participles

My grammar book told me that when a participle functions as an adjective, normally it should be used before nouns. But I still saw some sentences like: The experience gained will be of great value to ...
moyeea's user avatar
  • 558
2 votes
2 answers
148 views

She IS a two-time Academy Award nominee vs He WAS the champion of 2015 competition

I was strolling on the Wikipedia page and saw phrases like She is a two-time Academy Award nominee. Source and He was the champion of 2015 competition. I would like to know which one is ...
user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
58 views

"the tangent line to a circle" vs. "the line tangent to a circle"

Consider: the tangent line to a circle the nearest house to the state-house a cheap compatible battery with my aging APC UPS Do the following examples have the same syntactic structure ...
Kinzle B's user avatar
  • 6,987
3 votes
1 answer
4k views

"reason given" vs "given reason"

Which is grammatically superior? The Hallows are a dangerous place, but if that is the reason given to abandon him, then she would forge ahead. The Hallows are a dangerous place, but if that ...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
63 views

the suggested exercises/ the exercises suggested

I´d like to know whether I could say these two sentences: However, I have calculated that in order to complete the exercises suggested, it would take closer to.... However, I have calculated ...
user29552's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
177 views

Is this sentence grammatically correct? "the birth a planet the size of Jupiter"

Consider: Scientists recently witnessed the birth a planet the size of Jupiter... You can find the original article here. I have two questions: I think it must be the birth "of" a planet, ...
Cardinal's user avatar
  • 5,975
1 vote
1 answer
486 views

Postpositive adjective and plural form

Quoting this Wikipedia article: Another adjective with a special postpositive meaning is proper: in phrases like the town proper, Sweden proper, it means something like "strictly defined". My ...
Mikhail Maltsev's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
203 views

When should I add an adjective behind the noun?

When should I place an adjective after the noun it modifies? For example: "I can beat you with my eye closed" "I can spend the whole day undisturbed at the warehouse."
오준수's user avatar
  • 1,191
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

When do we put adjectives before or after nouns?

My question is: when do we put adjectives before nouns, and when do we put adjective after nouns? Because sometimes, I heard people put adjectives before nouns and sometimes after.
naser's user avatar
  • 91
2 votes
0 answers
67 views

What is a construct like "data found" (vs "found data") called? [duplicate]

I learned some time ago that in some cases the "characteristic" of an object, like "found" with respect to "data" is put after the object, i.e. if we found some data we should refer to them as "data ...
Ruslan's user avatar
  • 517
1 vote
3 answers
243 views

Plausibility notwithstanding and Otherwise?

I looked up the dictionary but these two terms are very difficult to get. could any body clarify on me? Plausibility notwithstanding, rumors about unwitting folks engaged in otherwise low-risk ...
user19686's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
3k views

What is the difference between an adjective before the noun and after the noun?

For a long time I'm having trouble understanding the difference between two kind of expressions like those below in terms of meaning, not grammar: Excited people are looking forward to seeing ...
Cihangir Çam's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
908 views

"matters spiritual" vs "spiritual matters"

From A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. France, less favoured on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, ...
nima's user avatar
  • 5,757
3 votes
1 answer
200 views

past -- a postpositive adjective?

Usage example with a context: Putin, like Hitler, lives in a mental time-warp that was outmoded already in 1914 — see his strangely 19th century views on diplomacy — and would be laughably obsolete ...
Michael Rybkin's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
411 views

One seldom upset

I'm currently reading Flowers in the Attic and found this sentence that has been bugging me for a while. My eyes widened. Such a vehement outburst from one seldom upset took me completely by ...
Nicholas J.'s user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

proper -- can this postpositive adjective be substituted for "in and of itself"?

Example: In computer programming, a directive pragma (from "pragmatic") is a language construct that specifies how a compiler (or assembler or interpreter) should process its input. Directives are ...
Michael Rybkin's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
644 views

Noun + anonymous examples

What phrases are for "noun + anonymous"? I've already found smokers anonymous alcoholics anonymous Are they always used for places where people go to quit using something, or have other meanings?
Rashid's user avatar
  • 253
2 votes
3 answers
288 views

"Delusions dispelled" What grammar construction is this? Is this an idiom?

I don't understand the grammar of this: "You will be dazed by the shock of delusions dispelled." (by George Johnson) I think it means, "He is dazed by the shock that naturally comes from your ...
user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
14k views

Can we use adjective after noun?

People angry with the high prices were protesting. Can we use adjective after noun without verb to be like the example above? Can you tell me what grammar rule is it?
nkm's user avatar
  • 2,425
5 votes
1 answer
276 views

Why "the heir apparent to" instead of "the apparent heir to"?

Please consider this sentence: Einstein was propelled to international prominence as the world’s newfound scientific genius, the heir apparent to Isaac Newton. Why isn't it written this way (...
user avatar