Attributive Adjectives

An attributive adjective sits directly next to the noun it modifies, forming part of the noun phrase rather than standing apart in the predicate. This is the most common way adjectives appear in English: the black dog, a sunny morning, an interesting idea. Unlike Predicative Adjectives, which follow a linking verb (the dog is black), attributive adjectives never need is, seems, or becomes to connect them to their noun—they are already tucked right in.

By far the most frequent pattern is prepositive placement: the adjective comes immediately before the noun. But English also allows postpositive placement, where the adjective trails the noun. You see this in borrowed or formal phrases that entered English from French and Latin, such as attorney general and court martial. Postpositive placement also occurs after indefinite pronouns: somebody perfect, nothing special. You will encounter it with superlatives (the best hotel possible), with adjectives ending in -able or -ible (the only seat available), after expressions of measurement (five feet tall), and in poetic or literary language (the night so dark). In all these cases the adjective remains attributive because it is still locked inside the noun phrase—it has simply moved to the right of the noun.

A small set of adjectives can only be used attributively and sound wrong in a predicate. If you say the main reason you are using it correctly, but the reason is main is ungrammatical. Other exclusively attributive adjectives include former, mere, utter, and chief. On the other side, adjectives beginning with the prefix a- such as afloat, afraid, alike, and asleep refuse attributive position entirely: you can say the baby is asleep but never the asleep baby. Understanding which adjectives prefer which position is a mark of natural, fluent English.

For the standard sequence when multiple attributive adjectives stack before a single noun, see Order of Adjectives.