Editing Grammatical modifier (section)

==Types==
===Formal types===
Two common [[parts of speech]] used for modification are [[adjective]]s (and [[adjectival phrase]]s and [[adjectival clause]]s), which modify nouns; and [[adverb]]s (and [[adverbial phrase]]s and [[adverbial clause]]s), which modify other parts of speech, particularly verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, as well as whole phrases or clauses. Not all adjectives and adverbs are necessarily modifiers, however; an adjective will normally be considered a modifier when used [[attributive adjective|attributively]], but not when used predicatively – compare the examples with the adjective ''red'' at the start of this article.

Another type of modifier in some languages, including English, is the [[noun adjunct]], which is a noun modifying another noun (or occasionally another part of speech). An example is ''land'' in the phrase ''land mines'' given above.

Examples of the above types of modifiers, in English, are given below.
* ''It was ''[''a '''nice''' house'']''.'' (adjective modifying a noun, in a noun phrase)
* [''The '''swiftly flowing''' waters'']'' carried it away.'' (adjectival phrase, in this case a [[participial phrase]], modifying a noun in a noun phrase)
* ''She's ''[''the woman '''with the hat''''']''.'' (adjectival phrase, in this case a [[prepositional phrase]], modifying a noun in a noun phrase)
* ''I saw ''[''the man '''whom we met yesterday''''']''.'' (adjectival clause, in this case a [[relative clause]], modifying a noun in a noun phrase)
* ''His desk was in ''[''the '''faculty''' office'']''.'' (noun adjunct modifying a noun in a noun phrase)
* [''Put it '''gently''' in the drawer'']. (adverb in verb phrase)
* ''He was ''['''''very''' gentle'']''.'' (adverb in adjective phrase)
* ''She set it down ''['''''very''' gently'']''.'' (adverb in adverb phrase)
* ['''''Even''' more'']'' people were there.'' (adverb modifying a [[determiner (class)|determiner]])
* ''It ran ''['''''right''' up the tree'']''.'' (adverb modifying a prepositional phrase)
* ['''''Only''' the dog'']'' was saved.'' (adverb modifying a noun phrase)

In some cases, noun phrases or [[Quantifier (linguistics)|quantifiers]] can act as modifiers:
* ['''''A few''' more'']'' workers are needed.'' (quantifier modifying a determiner)
* ''She's ''['''''two inches''' taller than her sister'']''.'' (noun phrase modifying an adjective)

===Functional types===
Modifiers of all types of forms may be used for certain function with different [[semantic]] features. The grammar of a language determines which morpho-syntactic forms are used for which function, as it varies from language to language. The functions of modification can be grouped into five such types:<ref name="Rijkhoff2014" />
* ''Classifying modification'' further specifies the '''kind''' of a referent: e.g. '''''solar''' energy'', '''''departmental''' meeting''.
* ''Qualifying modification'' further specifies some '''quality''' of a referent: e.g. '''''black''' cars'', ''a '''heavy''' box''.
* ''Quantifying modification'' specifies the '''quantity''' (or number/cardinality) of a referent: e.g. '''''two''' boxes'', '''''several''' cars''.
* ''Localizing (or anchoring) modification'' specifies the location of a referent: e.g. '''''this''' car'', ''the house '''on the corner'''''.
* ''Discourse-referential modification'' specifies the status of the referent in the discourse universe: e.g. '''''the/a''' car''.