attributive
attributive — adjective
- attributivepositive
- more attributivecomparative
- most attributivesuperlative
1. in grammar, describing a word or phrase that sits directly in front of a noun an
in grammar, describing a word or phrase that sits directly in front of a noun and modifies it, as 'red' in 'a red bag' or 'school' in 'school bus'
In 'a noisy street', noisy is attributive because it comes before the noun.
definition cue: before the noun
The teacher marked 'school' as an attributive noun in the phrase 'school bus'.
collocation: attributive noun
Leila crossed out her answer when she saw that 'afraid' was not attributive there.
On today's slide, 'medical' was labelled attributive in 'medical school'.
During the workshop, Professor Okafor explained why 'main' is usually attributive, not predicative.
- prenominal
more technical and strongly focused on position before the noun
- adnominal
broader technical term for something attached to a noun, not always limited to this exact position
- noun-modifying
plain descriptive label rather than a formal grammar term
- predicative
used after a linking verb instead of before the noun
- postpositive
placed directly after the noun it modifies
文法句型
be attributive
attributive + adjective
attributive + noun
attributive + use / position
用法筆記
Most often appears in grammar teaching or linguistics, especially in patterns like 'be attributive' and 'an attributive adjective'. Distinguish from 'predicative', which describes a word used after a linking verb, as in 'the child is happy'.