2. 1.
EXPLANATION EXAMPLE(S)
Nouns can be modified both
by adjectives and by other
nouns.
Adjective and noun
modifiers usually come
before the noun they modify.
The noun that is modified is
called the head noun.
Yao Ming is a famous
Chinese basketball player.
2 adj.
modifiers
noun
modifier

3. 2.
EXPLANATION EXAMPLE(S)
Noun modifiers usually come
directly before the nouns
they modify.
Milk chocolate is chocolate
made with milk.

4. 2.
EXPLANATION EXAMPLE(S)
Noun modifiers usually come
directly before the nouns
they modify.
Chocolate milk is milk with
chocolate in it.

5. 2.
EXPLANATION EXAMPLE(S)
When there are both
adjective and noun
modifiers, the noun modifier
comes closer to the head
noun.
Pele is a famous soccer
player.
adjective
modifier
noun
modifier

6. 3.
Explanation Example(s)
Two common types of adjective
modifiers are present and past
participles (also called
participial adjectives).
It was a boring movie.
The bored viewers left.
Remember that participial
adjectives that end in –ing
describe someone or
something that causes a
feeling.
The result of the game was
shocking.
The news is exciting.
Participial adjectives that end in
–ed describe someone who
experiences a feeling.
We were shocked by the
result.
Everyone is excited by the
news.

7. 3.
A Better Explanation:
All pairs of participial adjectives
come from a transitive verb:

8. 3.
Sentence
with the
transitive
verb
The present
participle
adjective
describes the
subject of the
verb.
The past
participle
adjective
describes the
object of the
verb.
English
grammar
interests me.
English
grammar is
interesting.
I am
interested in
English
grammar.
subject

9. 3.
Sentence
with the
transitive
verb
The present
participle
adjective
describes the
subject of the
verb.
The past
participle
adjective
describes the
object of the
verb.
The movie
bored the
viewers.
The movie
was boring.
The bored
viewers left.

10. 3.
Sentence
with the
transitive
verb
The present
participle
adjective
describes the
subject of the
verb.
The past
participle
adjective
describes the
object of the
verb.
The news
excited
everyone.
The news was
exciting.
Everyone was
excited by the
news.

11. 3.
Sentence
with the
transitive
verb
The present
participle
adjective
describes the
subject of the
verb.
The past
participle
adjective
describes the
object of the
verb.
The result
shocked us.
The result was
shocking.
We were
shocked by
the result.

12. 4.
When there is more than one modifier of
a noun, the modifiers generally occur in a
fixed order.
The following chart shows the usual order
of common adjectives and noun modifiers.

13. 4.
Position Category Examples
1 speaker’s opinions ugly, beautiful, dull, interesting
2 size big, tall, long, short
3 age or temperature old, young, hot, cold
4 shapes square, round, oval, diamond
5 colors red, blue, pink, purple
6 origins, nationalities, social
classes
computer-generated, Brazilian,
Chinese, middle-class
7 materials wood, cotton, denim, silk, glass
Note: avoid using more than three adjective modifiers before a noun.

14. 5.
When a noun has two or more modifiers
in the same category, separate the
adjectives with a comma.
For example:
He is a serious, hardworking student.

15. 5.
If the modifiers are in different categories,
do not separate the adjectives with a
comma:
For example:
I bought a beautiful denim shirt.

16. 5.
The order of adjectives in the
same category can vary, but
the order of adjectives in
different categories does not.

17. 5.
For example, these two sentences are both OK:
• He is a serious, hardworking student.
• He is a hardworking, serious student.
BUT, these two sentences are not both OK:
• I bought a beautiful denim shirt.
**I bought a denim beautiful shirt.

18. 6.
Compound modifiers are
constructed from more than
one word.
Here are four common kinds:

19. 6.
Kinds of Compound
Modifiers
Examples
Number + noun I work in a 10-story building.
Noun + present participle It’s a prize-winning film.
Noun + past participle It’s a crime-related problem.
Adjective + past participle The actor plays a long-haired,
one-armed pirate in the movie.
(Note that these compound modifiers are generally
hyphenated.)

20. 6.
Be careful! Plural nouns used as modifiers
become singular when they are used
before the noun!
• Her daughter is ten years old.
• She has a ten-year-old daughter.
**She has a ten-years-old daughter.

21. 7.
Be careful!
In written English, avoid having more than two
noun modifiers together.
Using too many noun modifiers in sequence
can be confusing.

22. 7.
For example:
• Jerry Gonzales won the student portrait
painter award.
(Is Jerry a student who won an award for painting portraits?
Is Jerry a painter who won an award for painting students?
Is the award given by the students?)

23. 7.
To avoid confusing sentences like
this, break up the string of noun
modifiers with prepositional
phrases or rearrange the
modifiers in some other way.

24. 7.
For example:
Jerry Gonzales won the award for
painting portraits of students.
OR
Student Jerry Gonzales won the
award for painting portraits.