Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. – Matthew 21:2
Yearning for Simplicity:
Having finished preaching around Jerusalem, Jesus is now preparing to enter Jerusalem for the prophesied crucifixion and resurrection. This entrance is not one of royal pomp and authority, but rather a humble and modest one, as he will enter the city of Jerusalem riding a donkey brought by his disciples. However, the entire city of Jerusalem was in turmoil to welcome Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” (Matthew 21:10)
The Gospel of John records that the inhabitants of Jerusalem welcomed him with shouts of hosanna (‘please save us, now bring salvation’), saying:
They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” (John 12:13)
The use of adjectives in English is fundamentally not much different from their use in Korean. Essentially, an adjective serves to decorate a noun placed before it. For example, in the phrase “I will give you a wise and discerning heart,” the sequence ‘a wise and discerning heart’ translates directly to ‘a wise and discerning heart’ in Korean, following the order in which it is written.
The issue arises when the adjective phrase becomes long or complex due to consisting of more than one word. In such cases, the English principle of “starting with the simple and gradually adding more complex explanations” should be applied to create sentences that sound natural in English.
Take the phrase “You will find a donkey tied there” as an example. In Korean, this directly translates to ‘a tied up there donkey,’ since Korean typically places descriptions before the noun. English, however, first introduces the noun with “You will find a donkey” and then describes it further with “that is tied there.” This sequential approach, which differs from Korean, might make immediate comprehension of English expressions a bit challenging due to the reversed order of details.
Let’s look at another example. Whereas we say ‘the stars in the sky’ in English, the descriptor follows the noun, essentially saying ‘stars’ first and then addressing the question of “which stars?” later. This principle is explained in schools using the term postmodification, which means to decorate from behind. However, it may be more appropriate to think of this as a natural English sentence structure created by the principle of simplicity. This principle aligns with the first and second English principles of starting with the conclusion formed by the subject and verb, followed by additional explanations.
Therefore, when adjectives modifying a noun become lengthy, it is acceptable to mention the core noun first and then provide further explanations afterward. An adjective becoming lengthy implies it is not just a single word; thus, adjectives that follow the noun are in the form of:
Types of Postmodification:
- Preposition + noun
- Infinitive (to + base form of the verb)
- Participles (ending in -ing or -ed/pp)
- Adjective Clauses (Relative Clauses)
- Other long adjective phrases (adjective + α)
As we will see in a moment, a group of words that modifies a noun is called an adjective phrase, and if this group includes a subject and verb, making it capable of forming a sentence, it is called a clause. Anyway, such lengthy adjectives are positioned after the noun.
- Adjective phrases formed with prepositions
I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. – Ecclesiastes 9:11)
First, it states “I have seen something else,” and then explains what that ‘something’ is with the phrase ‘under the sun.’
- Adjective Phrases with Infinitives
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. – Proverbs 25:21
Using infinitives as adjectives allows for the creation of adjective phrases that imply reason, purpose, or means. ‘Food to eat’ and ‘water to drink’ serve as concise examples.
- Adjective Phrases with Participles
Although we haven’t specifically addressed it, English grammar includes something known as the passive voice. Simply put, it’s used not to show that the subject is actively doing something but rather to express that something is being done to the subject. Let’s look at the following biblical passage:
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” – John 3:6-7
In this Bible verse, “You should not be surprised at my saying” is a passive sentence. If we were to change this to an active sentence, it could be “My saying should surprise you,” which means my words have surprised you, and as a result, you are surprised. Conversely, this active sentence could be converted back into a passive sentence as “You should be surprised,” by changing the verb part to “to be + past participle.” Let’s look at another passage from the Bible:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” – Philippians 4:6
“Let your requests be made known to God” is a passive expression meaning “Make your requests known to God.” If this phrase were converted to active voice, it could be “Let God know your requests” or another passive form, “Your request should be known by God.” Consequently, your requests become known to God, hence the expression ‘requests known to God’ is possible in English.
Similarly, in the example “You will find a donkey tied there,” the phrase “donkey tied there” can be thought of as a shortened form of the passive expression “Donkey is tied there.” This grammar form is referred to as a past participle in grammar books. Simply, participles are thought of as verbs turned into adjectives by decoration.
Not only past participles but also present participles, which are in the progressive form, are used as adjectives. That is, both present and past participles, created by adding “ing” and “ed” to the base form of the verb, are adjectives made from verbs. The difference is that present participles are used as adjectives to convey an active meaning, while past participles are used as adjectives to convey a passive meaning. Being participles means they can modify nouns or act as complements, just like adjectives.
“Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?” – Proverbs 5:15-16
Running water = water which is running.
“Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.” – Leviticus 19:13
A hired man = a man who is hired.
“He must pay the injured man for the loss of his time and see that he is completely healed.” – Exodus 21:19
The injured man = the man who is injured.
Adjectives Modifying Nouns from Behind
Just as there are always exceptions to rules, some adjectives cannot precede the noun they modify and must always follow it. These are mostly adjectives that start with “a,” such as afraid, awake, ashamed, aware, asleep, alive. Examples of this can be found in the Bible passage presented. Go to the village ahead of you.
These adjectives cannot modify a noun when placed in front of it. However, it’s important to remember that they can be used as complements following a “be” verb to describe the subject.
“He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:10
Conversely, adjectives like mere, inner, drunken, wooden, golden, upper, outer, only, elder, former can only appear before a noun and not after it.
“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly–mere infants in Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 3:1
Some nouns do not allow adjectives to precede them at all. These nouns are those that end in “~thing, ~body, ~one, ~where,” requiring adjectives to always follow them. Examples include something, anything, nothing; somebody, nobody, anybody, someone, anyone, everyone; and anywhere, nowhere, somewhere.
“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” – John 18:23
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