Postposed Adjectives

Adjectives Postposed

A postposed (or postpositive) adjective is one which is part of a noun phrase but which follows the noun rather than preceding it. In effect, they are postmodifiers of the noun. Postposed adjectives are mainly found with indefinite pronounsAn indefinite pronoun substitutes for a noun and indicates an indefinite quantity of the 'thing' or 'people' to which it refers, or something which the writer doesn't wish to specify more precisely. as the head of the noun phrase (someone, anyone, etc.) or with particular adjectives (e.g. available, concerned).

Postposed Adjectives with Indefinite Pronouns

• Everythingnoun materialpostposed adjective has mass, and therefore everything causes gravity. (Webb 2021)
  
  The indefinite pronoun "everything" is the subject in the first part of this sentence, and it is modified by the postposed adjective "material" (which is a classifierAn adjective used mainly in writing which has a classifying function. Classifiers are normally non-gradable. There are three types: relational, topical and affiliative..
• If this person leaves the organisation, someonenoun similarpostposed adjective needs to be found. (Charles and Keast 2016)
  
  The indefinite pronoun "someone" is the subject in the second part of this sentence, and it is modified by the postposed adjective "similar" (which is a classifier).
• Most of them wake up not knowing they did anythingnoun unusualpostposed adjective until someone tells them. (Agostini 2019)
  
  The indefinite pronoun "anything" is modified by the postposed adjective "unusual" (which is a descriptorAn adjective which has a particular describing function. Descriptors are normally gradable. There are four types: size/amount, time, colour and evaluative.).

Adjectives frequently occurring as postposed after a noun.

The adjectives available, concerned, involved, possible are often found in the postposed position.

• Fortunately, there’s almost always some lightnoun availablepostposed adjective . (Fairchild 2019)
  
  The noun "light" is modified by the postposed adjective "available" (which is a classifier).
• The processesnoun involvedpostposed adjective play a pivotal role in Earth’s climate and habitability. (Dutkiewicz et al. 2022)
  
  The noun "processes" is modified by the postposed adjective "involved".
• Life emerged by coming out of the pub, with the minimumattributive adjective complexitynoun possiblepostposed adjective . (Guijarro-Clarke and Paps 2020)
  
  The noun "complexity" is premodified by the adjective "minimum" and postmodified by the postposed adjective "possible".

You can see more examples of postposed adjectivesAn adjective which follows the noun phrase it modifies instead of preceding it. in the glossary.