1. Adjective modifiers that come before the word they modify.

 

Modifier	Simple Subject	Verb	Complement
The
The little	boy	opened	the door.
The nice little

More examples of the subject and its adjective modifiers are: 

Modifier	Simple Subject	Verb	Complement
A small	car	is	easy to park.
The new foreign	students	had	a party.
A week’s	vacation	is	nice.
Men’s	suits	are	over there.

Notice that the –ing form and past participle forms of the verb frequently function as modifiers as in the following examples. 

SUBJECT
Modifier	Simple Subject	Verb	Complement
The broken	tape	was	good.
The painted	house	looks	nice.
A winding	road	led	to the house.
A growing	child	needs	milk.

Participial phrases may also come before the word they modify. For example:

Modifier	Simple Subject	Verb	Complement
Taking the child’s hand,	he	began to walk	towards the house.
Without giving an answer,	she	resumed	her typing.
Throwing away his cigarette,	the student	entered	the mess hall.
Still undecided,	I	dropped	the letter in the mailbox.

2. Adjective modifiers that come after the word they modify.

 

SUBJECT
Simple Subject	Modifier	Verb	Complement
The lake	blue and serene	sparkled	in the sunlight.

3. Participles that come after the word they modify.

 

SUBJECT
Simple Subject	Modifier	Verb	Complement
The bull,	angered,	lowered	his head.
Louise,	laughing,	took	my arm.

4. Notice that participial phrases may also come after the word they modify.

 

SUBJECT
Simple Subject	Modifier	Verb	Complement
The DVD,	recorded yesterday,	wasn’t	good.

 

More examples of 3 and 4:  

The plane	flying overhead	is	a jet.
The command,	load and clear,	was	understood.
Students	interested in the party	see	Miss Betty.
The plane	damaged by the storm	made	a forced landing.

5. Prepositional phrases and infinitive phrases come after the word they modify.

 

The tape	on the desk	is	mine.
Te handle	of the cup	is	broken.
The painting	by Smith	is	beautiful.
The ability	to concentrate	is	important.
The things	to learn	are	the customs.
The place	to see	is	the museum.

 

6.  Clauses are also used as adjective modifiers and come after the word they modify.