Attributes were defined as elements of noun groups. Forms and compositions of adjectives are very variable. The variability of the form of the attribute to a large extent depends on the class of the word performing the attributive function. The form of the attribute includes its position. Words having nominal character such as nouns and gerunds often are used in post position to the noun and connected to it with a preposition. Words belonging to other groups normally take the position before the noun. Some of them such as numerals, articles, possessive and demonstrative pronouns may be found only in this position. Adjectives normally being in preposition may be used after the noun in two cases. First it concerns a small group of certain titles or names of organisations which follow the French manner of structuring attributive groups (attorney general). The other reason for post positioning of adjectives is their logical stressing and such attributes have an additional idea of additional information (Her eyes, green and sparkling, looked at him steadily). It must be noted also that the words of the category of state can never be in used in pre-position but only in post-position and with additional modificators (a child fast asleep but never a fast asleep child).
We have to note that the place before a noun seems to be a positional neutralisation of all differences between parts of speech because any element appearing between a word functioning as an article and the noun automatically becomes an attribute to that noun. We shall discuss this feature in more detail in the section devoted to the nouns and their functions.
Semantically and functionally all attributes might be divided into those which give certain information about the objects named by the noun and those which indicate general relations of the noun and do not name its properties. The latter attributes are never used in post-position. They belong to pronouns and articles and open the whole group. These attributes are usually given a special term determiners and usually are not considered as real attributes. Their meanings and functions will be discussed in the section describing articles and pronouns.
The difference between these two types of attributes is supported by their transformational potentials. The determiners as a rule cannot be transformed into clauses, while other attributes are easily transformable into predicative constructions in which the modified word occupies one of the nominal positions and the attribute either becomes a part of the predicate or is used as some other nominal element (the green tree—>the tree is green; the golden ring—>the ring is made of gold; the dancing hall—>the hall is designed for dancing). It shows that between the attribute and the noun modified by it we may establish concealed relations of predications.