1. Adjectivals: noun modifiers
one-word: adjectives and nouns
prepositional phrases
participle phrases
relative clauses

2. Pre and Post Noun Modifiers
Pre-noun adjectivals
determiner, adjectives, one-word participles, nouns
Post Noun adjectivals
prepositional phrases, participial phrases, relative clauses
that old stained brick wall by the square fixed-up
det adj 1-word participal noun prep phrase participial
by the Boy Scouts that nearly fell last winter.
phrase relative clause

3. One-word adjective modifiers
Put all this information into one phrase
kitchen floor
gray floor
old floor
linoleum floor
our floor
speckled floor
In English, one-word modifiers come in order:
determiners then adjectives then nouns

4. Adjectival Prepositional Phrases
Identifies a noun or pronoun by answering
which one?
what kind?
Nearly always, the adjectival prepositional phrase immediately follows the noun or pronoun it modifies.

5. Participle Phrases
Active, present participles are the “ing” form of the verb and are always regular in English
The gently babbling brook
Standing at the podium, I began to be afraid.
Passive, past participles are the “en” form of the verb and may be regular or irregular in English
A well-worn copy of the dictionary
The legos built by Adam were broken by Sara.

6. Relative clauses Begin with relative pronouns Or with relative adverbs
who, whom*, whose, which or that
Or with relative adverbs
why, where, when
Modify nouns by answering
which one?
what kind?

7. Relative clauses, continued
Like adjectival prep phrases, relative clauses nearly always directly follow the noun or pronoun they modify
The relative clause has its own subject and predicate and its own sentence pattern
The relative pronoun fills a slot in that sentence pattern

8. Relative pronoun in subject slot
My younger sister, who lives in NYC, bakes bread every Easter.
sister bakes | bread 7
who lives 6
Easter My
every in
NYC

9. Relative pronoun in direct object slot
We had to study for a midterm that no one understood.
study
We had | a
no one understood that to
for
midterm

10. Relative pronoun in determiner slot
That teacher, whose name I’ve forgotten, taught the girls.
teacher taught | girls 7
I ‘ve forgotten | name
whose