Three (3) Positions of Adjectives in Sentences by Mark Angelo S. dela Peña

Last time, we had good discussions about adjectives. Adjectives are really good topics especially for EFL/ESL students. Unfortunately, not all are aware that there are three positions of adjectives. Knowing these positions will broaden our understanding about adjectives and will make talk more flavorful.

Since English is an influx of many languages, characteristics of other languages influenced English a lot. One of these influences is the way we position adjectives in our sentences.

POSITIONS OF ADJECTIVES

1. Substantive -- Shakespeare was one of the persons who dared to prove that the tongue is superior than the language. He coined many words and extended the meaning of existing words. One of these extensions is the conversion of nouns to verbs and adjectives to nouns. Because of the flexibility of classifications of words, practically, adjectives also become nouns. Nouns are also called substantives. Substantive adjectives are those which act as nouns. They act as collective nouns.

The meek shall inherit the Earth.

The unjust are to be thrown in the lake of fire.

Notice that the words MEEK and UNJUST refer to all who are meek and all who are unjust.

2. Attributive -- Attributive position is the most common position for adjectives. Attributive adjectives precede the noun which is to be modified. This is the basic this EFL/ESL students learn and mark in their minds. That's why they end up thinking that adjectives always precede the noun. Observe the examples below.

The creative sculpture gained many praises.

The elder wand was taken by Voldemort.

Notice that the word CREATIVE modifies the word sculpture and the word ELDER describes the word wand.

3. POST-POSITIVE -- Many years ago, Latin, French and English are the commonly used languages. Latin was the language of the Church; French, the nobles, and; English, the commoners. French and Latin had had a lot of influences on English. One of these influences is the use of adjectives after the noun. These kinds of adjectives are called POST-POSITIVE ADJECTIVES. Take the following examples.

The God Almighty has given His grace.

For time immemorial, writing has been a means of communication and war.

In the first sentence, the word ALMIGHTY is the adjective which talks about God. It describes Him. In the second sentence, IMMEMORIAL describes how long the word TIME refers to.

* Post-positive adjectives are common in sentences having S-V-IO-C patterns.