Postpositive adjectives in English pt 2 (1 Viewer)

[Ahsoka]

A little while ago I made part one, now I’m making part two. If you want to read part one I posted it below. In that one I talk about foreign language effects on English in that regard

Postpositive adjectives in English are interesting - K-Pop Source — Keeping the K-Pop Forum Spirit Alive

If you don’t know, a postpositive adjective is when an adjective is put after the noun/pronoun, while for a prepositive adjective it goes in front. As an example, a prepositive example is “the red dog”, while the postpositive version is “the dog red”. In English, prepositive is predominant...

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Today I’ll start with times that you have to use postpositive adjectives in English (meaning that the adjective has to go after the noun). One example is following compound or sometimes simple indefinite pronouns, such as somebody, nowhere, anything, ect. You’d say “I need somebody strong”, “There’s nowhere warm within driving distance”, “Have you read anything good recently?”, rather than putting the adjective before.

Another case where the adjective has to come after the noun is when the words this, that, so, or even sometimes yea are used to point something out. “I need a couch that big”, “There’s was a building that big”, “A city so big that you need a car”.

The rest of the examples are ones where you can use a postpositive adjectives, but usually don’t have to (though sometimes the meaning changes if you do or don’t).

The first is when the adjective itself is a phrase, one where the main adjective isn’t the last word of the phrase. An example is “fruit ripe for the picking”. Comparative adjectives can go before or after, but may change the meaning slightly. For example, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat than that” vs “We’re gonna need a boat bigger than that”. Some simple phrases also use it, particularly with some emphasis. Think “case in point”, “task underway”, or “job at hand”.

Okay I’m done for now, looks like there’ll be a part 3

 

[Ahsoka]

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