Post-positive adjective
Encyclopedia
A postpositive adjective is an adjective
that appears after the noun
that it modifies. In some languages this is the normal syntax
, but in English
it is rare, largely confined to archaic or institutional expressions. Aplenty, galore, and the informal extraordinaire are examples of adjectives that are primarily used postpositively in modern English. Name suffixes
, such as Junior and Senior, also function as postpositive adjectives modifying proper name
s.
Sentences such as "They need a house big enough for their family" are not, strictly speaking, examples of postpositive adjective usage, as the noun and the adjective are in separate clauses (the example sentence means "They need a house [that is] big enough for their family"; hence the impossibility of saying just "a house big").
See the list below for postpositive adjectives, or adjectival phrases, used in the context of common expressions.
Recognizing postpositive adjectives in English can be an issue when determining the correct plural
for a compound expression.
(1) Every visible star is named after a famous astronomer.
(2) Every star visible is named after a famous astronomer.
The postpositive in (2) can only have a stage-level
reading, whereas the adjective in (1) can have either reading. The stage-level reading is one which talks about stars which are visible at the moment (given cloud-cover, etc.). The individual-level reading refers to the inherent property of the star, regardless of current conditions. (Star X is visible to the naked eye; however, you can't see it at the moment because it's cloudy.)
Cuisine
Other occurrences of surname
Former examples
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
that appears after the noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
that it modifies. In some languages this is the normal syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
, but in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
it is rare, largely confined to archaic or institutional expressions. Aplenty, galore, and the informal extraordinaire are examples of adjectives that are primarily used postpositively in modern English. Name suffixes
Suffix (name)
A name suffix, in the Western English-language naming tradition, follows a person's full name and provides additional information about the person. Post-nominal letters indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honor.- Academic :Academic suffixes...
, such as Junior and Senior, also function as postpositive adjectives modifying proper name
Proper name
"A proper name [is] a word that answers the purpose of showing what thing it is that we are talking about" writes John Stuart Mill in A System of Logic , "but not of telling anything about it"...
s.
Sentences such as "They need a house big enough for their family" are not, strictly speaking, examples of postpositive adjective usage, as the noun and the adjective are in separate clauses (the example sentence means "They need a house [that is] big enough for their family"; hence the impossibility of saying just "a house big").
See the list below for postpositive adjectives, or adjectival phrases, used in the context of common expressions.
Recognizing postpositive adjectives in English can be an issue when determining the correct plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
for a compound expression.
Stage- and individual-level adjectives
Some adjectives in English exhibit a slight change in meaning when used postpositively. Consider the following examples.(1) Every visible star is named after a famous astronomer.
(2) Every star visible is named after a famous astronomer.
The postpositive in (2) can only have a stage-level
Predicate (grammar)
There are two competing notions of the predicate in theories of grammar. Traditional grammar tends to view a predicate as one of two main parts of a sentence, the other being the subject, which the predicate modifies. The other understanding of predicates is inspired from work in predicate calculus...
reading, whereas the adjective in (1) can have either reading. The stage-level reading is one which talks about stars which are visible at the moment (given cloud-cover, etc.). The individual-level reading refers to the inherent property of the star, regardless of current conditions. (Star X is visible to the naked eye; however, you can't see it at the moment because it's cloudy.)
Examples in English
- God AlmightyGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, God OmnipotentOmnipotenceOmnipotence is unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed... - Choir InvisibleChoir InvisibleThe Choir Invisible was a rock band from Pasadena, California comprising John Curry , Scott Lasken , Thames Sinclair , and Danny Benair Don Romine .-History:...
- queen regnantQueen regnantA queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
, queen consortQueen consortA queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort... - heir apparentHeir apparentAn heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
, heir presumptiveHeir PresumptiveAn heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question... - president-electPresident-electAn -elect is a political candidate who has been elected to an office but who has not yet been sworn in or officially taken office. These may include an incoming president, senator, representative, governor and mayor.Analogously, the term "designate" An -elect is a political candidate who has been...
- Attorney GeneralAttorney GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
, PostmasterPostmasterA postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
General - Surgeon GeneralSurgeon General of the United StatesThe Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
(Common Law) - Governor-GeneralGovernor-GeneralA Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
(Commonwealth) - Minister President (Prussia)
- Johnny-come-lately
- Poet LaureatePoet LaureateA poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
- Princess RoyalPrincess RoyalPrincess Royal is a style customarily awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The style is held for life, so a princess cannot be given the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal...
, Astronomer RoyalAstronomer RoyalAstronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834.... - battle royalBattle royalBattle royal traditionally refers to a fight involving three or more combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing. In recent times the term has been used in a more general sense to refer to any fight involving large numbers of people that are not organized into factions...
- professor emeritusEmeritusEmeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
- minister plenipotentiary
- notary publicNotary publicA notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...
- body politicBody politicA polity is a state or one of its subordinate civil authorities, such as a province, prefecture, county, municipality, city, or district. It is generally understood to mean a geographic area with a corresponding government. Thomas Hobbes considered bodies politic in this sense in Leviathan...
- body corporate
- court-martialCourt-martialA court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
- forest primevalEvangelineEvangeline, A Tale of Acadie, is an epic poem published in 1847 by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians.The idea for the poem came from...
- fiddlers three
- food aplenty
- best room available
- best choice possible
- the light fantastic
- things possible and impossible
- worst choice imaginable
- time immemorialTime immemorialTime immemorial is a phrase meaning time extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition, indefinitely ancient, "ancient beyond memory or record"...
- times past
- Knight TemplarKnights TemplarThe Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, Knight HospitallerKnights HospitallerThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's... - knight errantKnight-errantA knight-errant is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. "Errant," meaning wandering or roving, indicates how the knight-errant would typically wander the land in search of adventures to prove himself as a knight, such as in a pas d'armes.The first known appearance of the term...
- Astraea ReduxAstraea ReduxAstraea Redux, written by John Dryden in 1660, is a full-blown royalist panegyric in which Dryden welcomes the new regime of King Charles II. It is a vivid emotional display that overshadows the cautious Heroique Stanzas that Dryden composed for Oliver Cromwell’s death...
, Apocalypse Now ReduxApocalypse Now ReduxApocalypse Now Redux is a 2001 extended version of the epic war film Apocalypse Now, which was originally released in 1979. Unlike other new cuts of the film, Redux is usually considered by fans and critics, as well as director Francis Ford Coppola a completely new movie altogether... - the town proper
- letters patentLetters patentLetters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
, letters closeLetters closeLetters close are a type of legal document which is a closed letter issued by a monarch or government granting a right, monopoly, title, or status to someone or some entity such as a corporation. These letters are personal in nature and were delivered folded sealed so that only the recipient can... - fee simpleFee simpleIn English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...
, fee tailFee tailAt common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death... - malice aforethoughtMalice aforethoughtMalice aforethought is the "premeditation" or "predetermination" that was required as an element of some crimes in some jurisdictions, and a unique element for first-degree or aggravated murder in a few.-Legal history:...
- proof positive
- corporation sole
- agent provocateurAgent provocateurTraditionally, an agent provocateur is a person employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act...
- adjectives denoting heraldic attitudeAttitude (heraldry)In heraldry, an attitude is the position in which an animal, fictional beast, mythical creature, human or human-like being is emblazoned as a charge, supporter or crest. Many attitudes apply only to predatory beasts and are exemplified by the beast most frequently found in heraldry — the lion. ...
(e.g. a lion passant) - Paradise LostParadise LostParadise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
- King CrimsonKing CrimsonKing Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
Cuisine
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Eggs Benedict Eggs Benedict is a dish that consists of two halves of an English muffin, topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce.-Origin:There are conflicting accounts as to the origin of Eggs Benedict, including:... Oysters Rockefeller Oysters Rockefeller consists of oysters on the half-shell that have been topped with various other ingredients and are then baked or broiled.-History:... |
Other occurrences of surname
- Brothers GrimmBrothers GrimmThe Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
- Brothers GibbBee GeesThe Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
Former examples
- Brigadier GeneralBrigadier GeneralBrigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
(and similar ranks such as Major GeneralMajor GeneralMajor general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
)—originally the plural would be "Brigadiers General", but "Brigadier Generals" is now much more common.
Non-adjectival examples
Although the following examples do not contain adjectives, they follow the pattern when forming plurals:- passer-by ("by" is a preposition)
- mother-in-law
- coup d'état
- aide-de-camp
- mother-to-be
- president pro tempore ("pro tempore" is an adverbial phrase meaning "for the time")