Chinese grammar - Attributive Adjectives

Attributive Adjectives

We have previously seen predicative adjectives - where the adjective comes after the connector 很 (hěn). For example: 猫很小 - 'The cat is small'.

In Chinese (like in English) adjectives can also appear before a noun - for example: 小猫 - 'The small cat'.

These are called 'attributive adjectives'.

Examples:
	小花 xiǎo huā small flower
	高楼 gāo lóu tall building 楼 (lóu) means 'building'
	大房子 dà fángzi big house
	旧桌子 jiù zhuōzi old table
	冷水 lěng shuǐ cold water
	热茶 rè chá hot tea
	快车 kuài chē fast car
	长裙子 cháng qúnzi long skirt 裙子 (qúnzi) means 'skirt'
	短裤子 duǎn kùzi short pants 裤子 (kùzi) means 'pants'
	重箱子 zhòng xiāngzi heavy box 箱子 (xiāngzi) means 'box'
	轻袋子 qīng dàizi light bag 轻 (qīng) means 'light' 袋子 (dàizi) means 'bag'
	那杯子里有冷水。 nà bēizi lǐ yǒu lěng shuǐ. There is cold water in that cup.
	你想要热茶吗？ nǐ xiǎng yào rè chá ma? Would you like hot tea?
	新房子在哪里？ xīn fángzi zài nǎlǐ? Where is the new house?