Adjective Positions

Adjective Positions

There are three different places adjectives can be positioned in a sentence: before the noun, after the noun, and in the predicate.

Attributive position: when the adjective comes before the noun it modifies.

Hannah is walking her dog.

×          The adjective, her, is in the attributive position, coming before the noun dog.

The greasy hamburger stinks.

×          Greasy is in the attributive position, coming before the noun hamburger

Postpositive position: when the adjective comes after the word is modifies or describes. This placement is not common, but is used primarily in fixed expressions.

This is nothing spectacular.

×          Spectacular here describes the pronoun nothing in the postpositive position.

Predicative position: when the adjective is in the predicate of the sentence, describing the noun via a linking verb or other linking mechanism.

Tyler is excited.

×          Excited modifies Tyler via the linking verb is.

Jamie was sad yesterday

×          Sad modifies Jamie via the linking verb was.

It is possible to have adjectives in all three positions in one sentence.

We have one room available on the second floor, and the pool is open until midnight.

×          One is in the attributive position describing room.

×          Available is in the postpositive position describing room.

×          The is an article describing floor

×          Second is in the attributive position describing floor

×          The is an article describing pool

×          Open is in the predicative position describing pool

Helping Verbs

Helping Verbs

Sometimes, like people, verbs need help. Helping verbs have no meaning on their own in the sentence but help clarify and explain the main verb. There are two categories of helping verbs: primary and modal. Primary, also called auxillary verbs, help the reader to understand what tense the main verb is, while modal helping verbs modify the meaning of the main verb and show necessity or possibility.

The primary helping verbs are made up of the forms from the verbs to be (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been)to have (have, has, had) and to do (do, does, did) Shall, will, should, would, may, might, can could)

I had studied for three long hours before I remembered that there wasn’t a test over that chapter.

·         Had studied is the entire verb phrase

·         Had, a primary helping verb, delineates for the reader the past perfect tense of the verb study.

I could not study at all today.

·         Could study is the entire verb phrase

·         Could shows possibility of studying, making it a modal helping verb.

Linking Verbs

Linking Verbs

Linking verbs, also called copular verbs, show a relationship between the subject and the sentence compliment. They identify a relationship or existing condition.  Many times verbs can function as both action and linking, creating a problem of differentiating between the two. But linking verbs can be replaced with the word equal (=) and still make sense.

The soup tastes good.

·         Can the soup taste? No.

·         Does the soup = good? Yes, making it a linking verb.

Hannah tastes the soup

·         Does Hannah = soup? No.

·         Can Hannah taste the soup? Yes, making it an action verb.

Transitive Verbs

Transitive action verbs have a receiver of the action. And, typically, the receiver acts as a direct object of the sentence.

I threw the ball through the window.

·         In this sentence, ball is receiving the action of throwing. Thus, threw is acting as a transitive verb.

Intransitive Verbs

Intransitive verbs do not need a receiver because the verb itself completes the action.

Peter slept through the ruckus.

·         The subject(Peter) and the verb (slept) would be sufficient information to have a complete thought, making slept an intransitive verb.