可以修饰名词的词或词类甚多，包括下面10种：

　　㈠形容词：good, bad, able, honest 等

　　㈡复合形容词：four-sided, dark-eyed, three-hour, high-rise, poverty-stricken 等

　　㈢现在分词：smiling, amusing, annoying, astonishing, thrilling 等

　　㈣过去分词：lost, damaged, frightened, disappointed, crowded, burnt, stolen 等

　　㈤名词：a flower garden, a basketball match, a tea party, an emergency meeting 等

　　㈥动名词：walking stick, dining-room, laughing-stock, steering committee 等

　　㈦所有格：John's hat, tomorrow's weather forecast, two hours' discussion 等

　　㈧副词：the statement above, the branches overhead, the bedroom upstairs 等

　　㈨数目词：many, few, a few, some 等

　　㈩数量词：much, little, a little 等

　　这里有些事要注意。首先，除了复合形容词、所有格、数目词、数量词可以超过一个字之外，其余的名词修饰语，都是单字单词的。其次，除了副词（通常是时间性或地点性的）出现在名词后面之外，其余的都出现在名词前面。例如：

　　① Jason is an honest man.

　　② I have just received a hand-written letter.

　　③ Susan spoke with a smiling face.

　　④ The police pulled away the damaged car.

　　⑤ Kim Seng likes his pocket dictionary.

　　⑥ Miss Song got the first prize in the swimming match.

　　⑦ All the players were allowed to have 10 minutes' rest.

　　⑧ There are a few errors in this essay.

　　⑨ After the shopping trip, Janet did not have much money left.

　　⑩ All the facts and figures above have been checked.

　　（11） The lights overhead need cleaning.

　　（12） The children upstairs are very noisy.

　　（13） There will be some discussion afterwards.

　　①－⑨里的修饰语都在名词前出现。⑩－12里的地方副词和13里的时间副词却紧随名词之后。

　　既然副词必须摆在名词之后，像第14句里的地方副词“below” 就不对了。

　　（14） We hope that you will find the below information useful.

　　只要把“below”副词移到名词“ information”后面就对了。

　　“We hope that you will find the information below useful.”

　　不然，就把“below”改成意思相近的形容词“following”，这样位置就可以保持不变。

　　“We hope that you will find the following information useful.”

　　最后有一点要特别提醒的是数目词和数量词的运用。前者和复数名词连用，如例⑧及⑧a和⑧b ：

　　⑧a. I have some good friends.

　　⑧b. There are too many mistakes in this letter.

　　后者只能和不可数名词连用，如例⑨及⑨a和⑨b：

　　⑨a. We need some help in this matter.

　　⑨b. Please put a little sugar in the tea.

　　有些词，既表示“数”又表示“量”，⑧a和⑨a里的“some”，便是个好例子。