Pre-and post-modification
Of course, it is not just adjectives that can modify nouns. Nouns can be used to
modify nouns – eg a paper kettle; a chocolate teapot; a glass elevator. Think of six
more examples of nouns modifying nouns:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
As soon as we modify a noun, it becomes a NOUN PHRASE. A noun phrase usually
begins with a determiner (“a” or “the”), can act as the subject, object or
complement in a clause, and usually has a noun as its most important word.
The usual word order in English implies that an adjective should go in front of the
noun – as in “The brown dog”, etc. This is known as pre-modification. BUT we
can post-modify noun phrases too, eg:
Croydon in the South of London
The baby chewing his rattle
A lesson called English
Post-modification is also known as qualification. Basically it is when extra
information is added after the noun itself. Nouns can be post-modified by RELATIVE
CLAUSES too,
eg The teacher, who was extremely brainy, taught the class.
 What stylistic effect does post-modification have?
 Would you expect to hear pre- or post- modification in specific contexts?
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