Post-positive adjective

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 names.

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.

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 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 Almighty, God Omnipotent
• Choir Invisible
• queen regnant, queen consort
• heir apparent, heir presumptive
• president-elect
• Attorney General, Postmaster General
• Surgeon General (Common Law)
• Governor-General (Commonwealth)
• Minister President (Prussia)
• Johnny-come-lately
• Poet Laureate
• Princess Royal, Astronomer Royal
• battle royal
• professor emeritus
• minister plenipotentiary
• notary public
• body politic
• body corporate
• court-martial
• forest primeval
• fiddlers three

• food aplenty
• best room available
• best choice possible
• the light fantastic
• things possible and impossible
• worst choice imaginable
• time immemorial
• times past
• Knight Templar, Knight Hospitaller
• knight errant
• Astraea Redux, Apocalypse Now Redux
• the town proper
• letters patent, letters close
• fee simple, fee tail
• malice aforethought
• proof positive
• corporation sole
• agent provocateur
• adjectives denoting heraldic attitude (e.g. a lion passant)
• Paradise Lost
• King Crimson

Cuisine

Fish Filet Deluxe beef Wellington beef Carpaccio

chicken Tetrazzini eggs Benedict oysters Rockefeller

Other occurrences of surname

• Brothers Grimm
• Brothers Gibb

Former examples

• Brigadier General (and similar ranks such as Major 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
• cul-de-sac
• aide-de-camp
• mother-to-be
• president pro tempore ("pro tempore" is an adverbial phrase meaning "for the time")

See also

• Plurals of compound nouns

External links

• Internet Grammar of English
• Heading East
• answers.com
• everything2.com
• The Onion (satire): "William Safire Orders Two Whoppers Junior"