It can be expressed by:
#1. An adjective (the most common way of expressing an attribute).
This big girl is very lazy.
I am speaking about the big girl, not the little one.
He seems a very silent, awkward, bashful lad. (Thackeray)
Meanwhile she was the gayest and most admired woman. (Thackeray)
#2. A pronoun (possessive, defining, demonstrative, interrogative, relative).
His shrewd, steady eyes had lost none of their clear shining. (Buck)
Each of these ladies held fans in their hands, and each, with some touch of colour, some emphatic feather or brooch, testified to the solemnity of the opportunity. (Galsworthy)
I looked at her — at her, and at none other, from that moment. (Collins)
James once went down to see for himself what sort of place this was that they had come from. (Galsworthy)
In that great London, what time had they to be sentimental? (Galsworthy)
#3. A numeral (cardinal or ordinal).
In his final examinations he won six distinctions… (Aldington)
The second generation of Forsytes felt that he (Bosinney) was not greatly to their credit. (Galsworthy)
#4. A noun
- In the common case. One of the marked features of the English language is the wide use of nouns in the common case as attributes in pre-position.
I recognized him as Dougal Todd, the village painter and carpenter. (Cronin)
Не was pleased that the girl seemed impressed because it showed business instinct. (Galsworthy)
He wore a large straw hat.
- In the genitive, This kind of attribute is generally used in pre-position.
Her father’s nerves would never stand the disclosure. (Galsworthy)
However, an attribute expressed by the preposition of a noun in the genitive case is used in post-position (the so-called Absolute Genitive): this clever joke of mother’s; a book of my brother’s.
How could he go up to Oxford now, among all those chaps, those splendid friends of Crum’s? (Galsworthy)
In this case, the noun modified is always used either with the indefinite article or with a demonstrative pronoun. The latter makes it emphatic.
The same construction may be used with possessive pronouns in their absolute form: a friend of mine; that pretty sister of his.
#5. A prepositional phrase.
To think that a man of his abilities would stoop to such a horrible trick as that! (Dreiser)
And the impressions of six years are not got over in such a space of time. (Thackeray)
#6. An adverb:
- In pre-position.
In the light of after events one cannot but sympathize with them. (Fox)
- In post-position.
A voice inside said, “Come in.”
The room above is large and light.
The man there is my brother.
Will it be a step on or a step back?
#7. Participles I and II or a participial
The participle in the function of an attribute can be used in pre-position and in post-position. In the latter case, it is mostly used with accompanying words.
On the opposite side of the road to the site of the destroyed church is a fine avenue of old trees. (Abrahams)
It looks brighter over there. I think it is only a passing shower. (Du Maurier)
I was dazzled by the snow glittering on the tree tops. (Ch. Bronte)
#8. A prepositional phrase or a prepositional construction with a
Sally hated the idea of borrowing and living on credit. (Prichard)
The thought of having it copied again and again set him to smiling. (Shaw)
The idea of its being barbarous to confine wild animals had probably never even occurred to his father for instance… (Galsworthy)
#9. An infinitive, an infinitive phrase, or an infinitive The infinitive as an attribute is always used in post-position.
They must have more companionship, more opportunity to broaden their life. (Dreiser)
All right, go back to your office, you’ve got work to do. (Heym)
But it was not easy to carry out the resolution never to approach her. (Hardy)
This is an English article for you to translate into Russian by tomorrow.
#10. Quotation
I don’t Jike his “don’t-talk-to-me-or-I’ll-contradict-you” air.
Не was being the boss again, using the it’s-my-money-now-do-as-you’re-told voice. (Wilson)