Nouns with adjectives

2.308 When adjectives are used in qualifying clauses after nouns or pronouns they can be followed by

• prepositional phrases

...machinery capable of clearing rubble off the main roads.

...a warning to people eager for a quick cure.

...those responsible for the project.

...the vicious poverty cycle so common in single-parent families.

• 'to'-infinitive clauses

... the sort of weapons likely to be deployed against it.

It has been directed against those least able to retaliate.

• adjuncts of time or place

...a concept inconceivable a hundred years earlier.

For the facilities available here, I must ask for a fee.

Unfortunately, the work visible in this location is late-nineteenth-century restoration.

Note that you can use adjectives as qualifiers when they are preceded by adjuncts of time or measurement.

...those still alive.

...a small hill about 400 feet high.'

Note also that a few adjectives, such as 'present' and 'responsible', can be used on their own after a noun or pronoun. The use of these adjectives is explained in paragraphs 2.62 to 2.66.

other qualifying structures 2.309 There are some other structures, especially those which indicate comparison, degree, or result, which often involve a qualifier. In particular, some kinds of submodifiers of adjectives often have a qualifier to complete their meaning.

Peter came in, more excited than anyone had seen him before.

Ralph was too angry to think clearly.

...steel cylinders strong enough to survive a nuclear catastrophe.

...a grand piano as big as two coffins.

The winter has been so bitter that the stream was low.

Technology has made such spectacular advances that it is difficult to keep up.

The use of comparative adjectives plus 'than' after noun groups is explained in paragraphs 2.111 to 2.113. Other ways of comparing things are explained in paragraphs 2.128 to 2.144. The use of 'so...that' and 'such...that' is explained in paragraphs 8.58 to 8.63.

Nouns with non-finite clauses

2.310 There are three types of non-finite clauses which can be used as qualifiers. These are 'to'-infinitive clauses (see paragraphs 2.311 to 2.316), past participle clauses (see paragraph 2.317), and present participle clauses (see paragraph 2.318).

with 'to'-infinitive clauses 2.311 A 'to'-infinitive clause is often put after nouns in order to show what the thing referred to is intended to do.

The government of Mexico set up a programme to develop new varieties of wheat.

...a simple device to test lung function.

They need people to work in the factories.

2.312 You can refer to something or someone that should or can have something done to them by using a clause containing a 'to'-infinitive after a noun or indefinite pronoun.

I make notes in the back of my diary of things to be mended or replaced.

...when I've had something to eat.

You can also use a clause consisting of a 'to'-infinitive followed by a preposition.

...a room with nothing in it except a string cot to sleep on, a lectern to write on and two wooden shelves.

He remembered he had nothing to write with.

2.313 You can also use a 'to'-infinitive clause when you want to say that you are talking about, for example, the first, oldest, or only person who did something.

...the first woman to be elected to the council.

...the next person to speak.

...the oldest person to be chosen.

2.314 A clause containing a 'to'-infinitive is used after some abstract nouns to show what action they relate to.

...people who didn't have the opportunity to go to university.

...trying to think of a way to stop him.

2.315 Many of these nouns are related to verbs or adjectives which are also often followed by 'to'-infinitive clauses. For example, a 'to'-infinitive clause is used after both the verb 'need' and the noun 'need', and after both the adjective 'able' and the related noun 'ability'.

I need to borrow five thousand dollars.

...the need to preserve secrecy about their intentions.

I may be able to help you.

...the ability to read.

It failed to grow.

...our failure to adapt ourselves to modem life.

2.316 Here is a list of nouns which usually or often have a 'to'-infinitive clause after them:

ability attempt bid chance

compulsion desire disinclination failure

inability need opportunity readiness

reason refusal unwillingness urge

way willingness

2.317 A past participle clause can be used directly after a noun to show that something has been produced or affected by an action.

...a girt called Patricia.

...dresses made of paper.

...two of the problems mentioned above.

...the machine already mentioned.

...a minister appointed by the Prime Minister.

...a story written by a nine-year-old girl.

...instruments designed to extend the range of our senses.

2.318 A present participle clause can be used directly after a noun to indicate that something is doing something.

He gestured towards the three cards lying on the table.

...a wicker shopping-basket containing groceries.

...those still working.

...the scream of a man dying in torment.

2.319 When you want to give further information about someone or something by using a noun group which describes them or identifies them, you can put this noun group after the headword. This is often called apposition. The use of noun groups in apposition is closely associated with defining and non-defining relative clauses which are explained in paragraphs 8.83 to 8.111.

2.320 If you put this noun group after the main noun group, a comma is almost always put after the main noun group because the second noun group is separate from it, not part of it.

...the sifaka, a beautiful creature with pure white fur.

...Orville Wright, the first man to fly.

...Dan Melnick, the head of MGM.

...Steve Race, the musician and broadcaster.

Her mother, a Canadian, died when she was six.

...a book by a distinguished Scotsman, Ramsey Weir.

If you put this noun group before the main noun group, you can sometimes choose whether to use a comma to separate the two noun groups or not.

...the American writer Alvin Toffler.

...Joan's husband, Jim Inglis.

...my husband George.