Positions of Adjectives

Position of an adjective can change the meaning of the whole sentence.

Compare the following sentences:

A great king’s son should live up to the reputation.

A king’s great son should live up to the reputation.

So, we need to keep in mind where we are placing the adjective in a sentence.

Types of Adjectives based on their position

Based on their position, Adjectives can be of two types:

  • Attributive Adjective and

  • Predicative Adjective

Type 1: Adjective used attributively

Attributive Adjectives are the adjectives used along with the noun as an attribute.

It can be of two types:

  • Adjective just before a noun

  • Adjective just after a noun

Type 1a: Adjective just before a noun

Pattern: Adjective + Noun

E.g. yellow rose

The tallest boy was made the basketball team captain. (tallest – adjective; boy - noun)

We met a genius scientist. (genius – adjective; scientist - noun)

Type 1b: Adjective just after a noun

They are also known as Postpositive adjectives.

Pattern: Noun/Pronoun + Adjective

E.g. attorney general, nothing new, something spicy

The watches, available here are of low quality. (watches - noun; available - adjective)

The woman in red saree is my wife. (woman - noun; in red saree - adjective phrase)

The book, which was published last month, is a potboiler. (book - noun; which was published last month - adjective clause)

Some examples of Postpositive adjectives

Some classes of adjectives that fall in this category are:

Example 1

Some -ible and -able adjectives: e.g. available, imaginable, possible, suitable.

However, we use these adjectives immediately after a noun only when:

  • the noun follows words such as first, last, next, only and superlative adjectives.
    It is the only treatment suitable. (or …the only suitable treatment.)

  • or when a prepositional phrase follows the adjective.
    Pattern: Noun + Adjective + Prepositional Phrase
    This is a benefit available to employees only.

Example 2

In certain phrases the Adjective always comes immediately after the noun:

For example: heir apparent, time immemorial, lord paramount, viceroy elect, letters patent, knights temporal, notary public, body politic, God Almighty.

Type 2: Adjectives used predicatively

Predicative Adjective is an adjective that is used after linking verb as subjective complement.

Such an adjective is always part of the predicate (and not of the subject). That’s why we call it Predicative Adjective.

Pattern: Noun/Pronoun + Verb + Adjective

The manager is smart. (manager – subject; is – verb; smart – adjective working as subjective complement)

These cities are vulnerable to violence. (These cities - subject; are – verb; vulnerable to violence - adjective phrase working as subjective complement)




Adjectives that can be used attributively or predicatively

The same adjective can function as attributive adjective and predicative adjective in different sentences. Let’s see some examples:

attributive adjective and predicative adjective

Adjectives that are used only attributively

Some adjectives are seldom or never used after a linking verb, i.e. they never work as predicative adjectives.

For example: we say – “This is a medical emergency.”
But we don’t say – “This emergency is medical.”

Some classes of adjectives that fall in this category are:

  • Classifying adjectives: atomic, cubic, digital, medical, phonetic; chief, entire, initial, main, only, whole; eventual, occasional, northern (etc.), maximum, minimum, nuclear, underlying.

    The main issue is that of the buggy software.
    The underlying assumption behind this projection is faulty.

  • Emphasizing adjectives: absolute, complete, mere, utter

    Joining that company will prove to be an absolute harakiri of your career.

Adjectives that are used only predicatively

Some Adjectives can be used only as Predicative adjectives.

Pattern: Noun + Linking Verb + Adjective

Some classes of adjectives that fall in this category are:

  • Some adjectives starting with ‘a’: afraid, alight, alike, alive, alone, ashamed, asleep, awake, aware

    Afraid Pam is of ghosts. (incorrect)
    Pam is afraid of ghosts. (correct; afraid - predicative adjective)

  • Some adjectives describing health and feelings: content, fine, glad, ill, poorly, sorry, (un)sure, upset, (un)well

    I am quite well. (well – predicative adjective)

However, these words can sometimes be used between an adverb and a noun. Here they function as attributive adjective.

E.g. I am catering to a terminally ill patient. (terminally – adverb; ill – adjective; patient - noun)

Extra Books and Tools


If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.
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