Understanding Attributive Adjectives and Predicative Adjectives in English

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Generally, adjectives serve the purpose of describing nouns or nominal elements—which refers to any word that acts as a noun irrespective of its structure like Gerunds, Infinitives and Participles not excluding noun phrases and noun clauses. Also, adjectives are capable of describing pronouns. As words that describe nouns, they can appear before and after the nouns they modify which brings us to the study of the concepts of attributive adjectives and predicative adjectives.

What are Attributive Adjectives?

Attributive adjectives are adjectives that typically appear before the nouns they modify. These adjectives come directly before the nouns that they modify and they serve the purpose of describing the attributes of the noun either in terms of size, colour, age, shape, etc.,.

understanding-attributive-adjectives-and-predicative-adjectives



Observe the following:

  1. The red dogs eat scraps.
  2. Tall guys are the dreams of most people.
  3. The old library has just collapsed.

Take note of the adjectives in the examples above: "red", "Tall", "old", "Big", and "Long", they all appear directly before the nouns they describe and serve the purpose of giving more information about the noun in question for ease of identifiability. You would also notice from the examples that the adjective together with the nouns they modify both form noun phrases: i.e.,. "The old library", this is as a result of their appearance directly before the nouns and so they both form a phrase since adjectives can serve as constituent elements of a noun phrase.

Categories of Attributive Adjectives 

While attributive adjectives typically appear directly before the nouns they modify, there are cases where they appear directly after the nouns they modify. Hence, two categories of attributive adjectives have been identified namely: prepositive attributive adjectives and postpositive attributive adjectives.

Prepositive Attributive Adjectives 

These are attributive adjectives that only appear directly before the nouns they modify. 

Observe the following:

  1. Big dogs don't always bully cats.
  2. Long notes are used for writing in higher institutions.
  3. Patient people wait for their turn.
  4. The dark movie has a lot of mysteries.
  5. That beautiful lady smiled at him.

Postpositive Attributive Adjectives 

They are attributive adjectives that only appear directly after the nouns they modify.

Observe the following:

  1. The attorney general is handling the case.
  2. These traditions have been followed since time immemorial.
  3. The heir apparent to the throne is being trained for leadership.
  4. I need to find something interesting to read.
  5. Is there anyone available to help with this task?

Take note of the adjectives: "general", "immemorial", "apparent", "interesting", and "available", they all appear only after the nouns they modify hence they serve as postpositive attributive adjectives. Did you notice the adjectives modifying pronouns from the examples? Both "interesting" and "available" modified the pronouns "something" and "anyone" which shows that pronouns can also be modified by adjective but typically postpositive attributive adjectives.

Restrictive and Non-restrictive Attributive Adjectives 

Another classification of attributive adjectives is the restrictive and non-restrictive attributive adjectives. Restrictive attributive adjectives are adjectives that serve the purpose of giving more or useful information about the nouns they modify which are crucial for identifying the nouns. Non-restrictive attributive adjectives on the other hand only give extra information about nouns that are not crucial to the identification of the nouns.

Examples of restrictive attributive adjectives:

  1. The sad movie was worth the watch.
  2. The old lady is now our friend.
  3. Bad ideas give room for regrettable actions. 

The adjectives "sad", "old", and "bad" in the examples above are restrictive adjectives because they help in identifying the nouns they modify by providing useful information about them. We would not be able to properly identify the nouns they modify in their absence.

Examples of non-restrictive attributive adjectives:

  1. Titanic was a sad movie.
  2. My grandma is the old lady.
  3. The ideas that cause pain are bad ideas.

From the examples above, you would notice that the nouns have already been specified without help from the adjectives: "sad", "old", and "bad", which only add extra information that can be easily removed.

Predicative Adjectives 

Unlike attributive adjectives, predicative adjectives are adjectives that appear after the nouns they qualify. However, they do not appear directly after the nouns they modify as is the case of postpositive attributive adjectives, but they are separated from the nouns they qualify by linking verbs. That is, predicative adjectives are connected to the nouns they qualify by linking verbs.

Observe the following:

  1. The food is delicious.
  2. Those neighbors are nice.
  3. The students were happy.
  4. The board of directors are impressed.
  5. The horror movie was interesting.

All the adjectives that come directly after the linking verbs: "are", "is", "was", etc.,. in the examples above are all predicative adjectives.

Adjectives that serve as both Predicative Adjectives and Attributive Adjectives 

Most Adjectives serve as both attributive and predicative adjectives.

Observe the following:

  1. The black dog is black.
  2. The lazy teacher is lazy.
  3. That long coat is long.

However, there are adjectives that serve as only attributive adjectives or only predicative adjectives.

Attributive only Adjectives 

Some adjectives that are only used in attributive position include the following: Mere, Main, Little, etc.,.

Observe the following:

  1. He is a mere mortal.
  2. This is the main event.
  3. The little girl is crying.

Using these adjectives in predicative position will lead to ungrammatical structures.

Predicative only Adjectives

Some adjectives that are only used in predicative position include the following: alive, aware, asleep, alone, etc.,.

Observe the following:

  1. The chicks are alive.
  2. He is aware of the danger.
  3. The kids are asleep.
  4. The boy is alone.

Using these adjectives in attributive position will lead to the formation of ungrammatical structures.

So both attributive adjectives and predicative adjectives play crucial role in describing nouns. While attributive adjectives are adjectives that directly precede the nouns they modify and in some cases may directly succeed the nouns, predicative adjectives are adjectives that come after the nouns they qualify and are separated from those nouns by linking verbs. Understanding the differences between attributive adjectives and predicative adjectives will better equip you with the knowledge of how to use adjectives effectively not only in your writing but also in your speaking like a native speaker of the English language!


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