5 Adjectives - Attributive-only

Adjectives are determiners that can be placed in two different positions within a sentence to modify or describe a person or a thing.

Some adjectives are only used in attributive position.

Attributive-only Adjectives can only be placed before nouns. Their position in the sentence is as follows:
Subject + verb + attributive adjective + noun.

Attributive Adjectives:

1. Little;
2. Live;
3. Elder*;
4. Mere;
5. Main.

*”Elder” does not follow the structure mentioned above. It is used before the verb.

1. Little
   • They have a little house. (NOT: Their house is little.)
2. Live
   • We sell live seafood in the market. (NOT: The seafood we sell are still live.)
3. Elder
   • His elder brother is an HR manager. (NOT: My brother is elder than me.)
4. Mere
   • He is a mere child. (NOT: This child is mere.)
5. Main
   • This is the main problem. (NOT: This problem is the main one.)

We use Adjectives to modify or describe a person or a thing. Some of these adjectives are:

1. Little: Small in size;
2. Live: To be alive;
3. Elder: An older person;
4. Mere: Something not large or important;
5. Main: More important.

If we have an Adjective which is placed before a noun, we call this an Attributive Adjective. Attributive-only Adjectives can only be placed before nouns.

You can see the position of these Adjectives by following this structure:
Subject + verb + attributive adjective + noun (e.g. She has a little bed.).

For example:
— “She has a little bed.” = “Little” can only be used as a Attributive Adjective.
— “Her bed is little.” = “Little” can’t be used as predicative.
— “Their elder daughter got married.” = “Elder” is used before the verb.

Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.