Types of post-nominal modifiers

POST-MODIFIERS (POST-MOD) in an NP are the categories that follow the head noun and modify it in
some way

POSTNOMINAL MODIFIERS MAY BE EXPRESSED BY:

• PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
• ADJECTIVE PHRASES
Prepositional Phrases
Definition
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that includes a preposition
and the object of the preposition.
 Types of Information Provided Common Prepositions
Place, Position or Direction Above, Across, Against, Along, Among,
Around, At, Away from
Common prepositions Behind, Below, Beneath, Beside, Between,
provide information about a Beyond, By
place, position, direction, Down
time, and other aspects of From
information. In, In front of, Inside, Into
Near
Off, On, Opposite, Out (of), Outside, Over
Through, To, Towards
Under, Up, Upon
Within

Time After, At
Before, By
During
For, From
In
Until

Other As, about, by, except, for, like, with, without

FUNCTION

• A prepositional phrase functions as an adjective when it modifies a noun, pronoun.

Ex: Noun: Joe is the student with the highest grade.

Pronoun: Some of the food is delicious.

• A prepositional phrase functions as an adverb when it modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb.

Ex: Verb: Megan put the bird in its cage.

Adjective: She is tall for her age.

Adverb: Student study late at night.
 PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES are the most common post-nominal modifiers
E.g: The boy in the room
An expedition to the pub
The man in the iron mask
• Using tree-diagram to re-draw the above-mentioned upsidedown-T diagrams:
• ComN (Compound Noun): iron mask, greenhouse, bedroom
• ModN (pre-modifying noun): iron, green, bed
When a given NP includes both a pre-modifying AP and the post-modifying
PP, the pre-modifying AP belongs to the N-bar of the given NP but the
post-modifying PP does not:

• PropN (proper noun): Germany, Google, Ferrari, Lady Gaga

• PossPropN (possessive proper noun): children’s, Doris’s
As a post-modifier, a PP may sometimes be reduced to an abverb:
Exercise: Identify the main preposition, noun phrase, and adverb
phrase (if any) in the following prepositional phrases:

1. in the left corner of the screen

2. on the day after tomorrow
3. only at the evening meeting

Answer:
1. Main preposition: in, noun phrase: the left corner of the screen
2. Main preposition: on, noun phrase: the day after tomorrow
3. Main preposition: at, noun phrase: the evening meeting, adverb
phrase: only