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The adjective follows the noun in a number of 'titles': e.g. Attorney General Governor General Heir Apparent, Poet Laureate Postmaster General, President Elect (or elect), Sergeant Major And note: Asia Minor, and a number of fixed phrases, such as body politic, Goodness gracious1, hope eternal, penny dreadful, sum total time immemorial
Adjectives which can come before or after nouns
Adjectives before or after nouns with no change in meaning
A limited number of adjectives, mostly ending in -able and -ible, can come before or after nouns, usually with no change of meaning. Some of these are: available eligible, imaginable, taxable
I doubt whether we can complete our contract in the time
available/in the available time
Adjectives before or after nouns with a change in meaning
A few adjectives change in meaning depending on whether they are
used before or after a noun. Some of these are: concerned elect
involved present, proper responsible
The concerned (= worried) doctor rang for an ambulance
The doctor concerned (= responsible) is on holiday
This elect (= specially chosen) body meets once a year
The president elect (= who has been elected) takes over in May
It was a very involved (= complicated) explanation
The boy involved (= connected with this) has left
Present employees (= those currently employed) number 3 000
Employees present (= those here now) should vote on the issue
It was a proper (= correct) question
The question proper (= itself) has not been answered
Janet is a responsible girl (= She has a sense of duty.)
The girl responsible (= who can be blamed) was expelled
Adjectives which can be used as if they were nouns
