Author: Indigo Curnick
Date: 2026-10-03
Introduction
This blog is part of a series on phrases and clauses, the hub of which you can find here.
An adjective phrase contains a main word which is an adjective, plus optional pre-modifiers and optional post-modifiers. We learned in about adjectives in a previous blog here. The structure is:
- (pre-modifiers) adjective (post-modifiers)
Some examples of adjective phrases (in italics) in sentences are
- She had bright blue eyes.
- He wears very expensive shoes.
- Tom is afraid of spiders.
Pre-Modifiers
Let's look at some of the kinds of things which can act as pre-modifiers in the adjective phrase.
(Degree) Adverbs
The most common pre-modifiers in adjective phrases are by far adverbs, particularly degree adverbs, which include:
- very
- extremely
- quite
- rather
- fairly
- pretty
- so
- too
Some examples in adjective phrases:
- very happy
- extremely cold
- quite unsual
- rather strange
- fairly simple
- pretty good
- so beautiful
- too expensive
We can see other adverbs also. Another kind of adverb we can use is the intensifying adverb, which include for example:
- really
- particularly
- especially
- utterly
- completely
- absolutely
Some examples in adjective phrases:
- really interesting
- particularly useful
- especially important
- utterly ridiculous
- completely impossible
- absolutely certain
Comparative Degree Modifiers
Another common class of adjective phrase pre-modifiers are comparative degree modifiers, which specifically modify comparative adjectives. Some examples of comparative degree modifiers are:
- much
- far
- a lot
- slighly
- considerably
- even
Examples in adjective phrases:
- much better
- far worse
- a lot easier
- slighly larger
- considerably more expensive
- even stranger
Another Adjective
Sometimes we even see another adjective as a pre-modifier, here's some example adjective phrases:
- ice cold
- stone dead
- bright red
- dead easy
- wide open
Post-Modifiers
Let's now look at some of the things which can act as post-modifiers in an adjective phrase.
Prepositional Phrase
A very common adjective phrase post-modifier is the prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase is a phrase which begins with a preposition. Some examples of adjective phrases with prepositional phrase post-modifiers:
- afraid of spiders
- interested in linguistics
- good at maths
- responsible for the project
- similar to mine
- angry with me
- famous for its architecture
Infinitive Phrase
A very common kind of post-modifier for adverb phrases is an infinitive phrase. Infinitive phrases begin with a verb in the infinitive form. The infinitive is the to form of the verb e.g. to help, to see, to run. Some examples of adjective phrases with them:
- easy to understand
- difficult to explain
- eager to leave
- ready to go
- likely to happen
- impossible to predict
Finite Clause
Finite clauses are clauses which contain a verb which shows tense. Here's some examples of adjective phrases with them:
- certain that she's right
- aware that something is wrong
- convinced that he lied
- glad that you came
- surprised that nobody has noticed
Completeness
Post-modifiers often complete the meaning of an adjective phrase
- Tom is afraid of spiders.
- Tom is afraid for his job.
- Tom is afraid that no one will believe him.
A few adjectives in some circumstances require a post-modifier to be intelligible
- The contract is subject to approval by the board
Notice how Tom is afraid works as a complete sentence, although we don't know what he is afraid of. On the other hand The contract is subject is not a complete sentence. It is for this reason that some grammarians will talk of some post-modifiers as complements rather than as modifiers since they are completing the phrase rather than modifying it.
Conclusion
While this blog hasn't covered every single possible instance and use of adjective phrases, this should give you enough understanding that you can now identify adjective phrases in writing. This allows you to understand the grammar of a sentence much more fully. As a reminder, the basic structure of an adjective phrase is:
- (pre-modifiers) adjective (post-modifiers)
References
Murray, L. (1859 (1795)) English Grammar Adapted to the Different Classes of Learners. With an Appendix, Containing Rules and Observations, for Assisting the More Advanced Students to Write with Perspicuity and Accuracy. John Murphy & Co.
Greenbaum, S., Nelson, G. (2002) An Introduction to English Grammar. Pearson Education Limited
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., Svartik, J. (1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman.
Collins Editors, (2017). Cobuild English Grammar. Harper Collins Publishers.