英语定语形式多样,有前置定语、后置定语,还有定语从句,英语定语的翻译也呈现出多样化。用大量实用、生动的例句详细分析了各种英语定语在汉译过程中的转换方法。英语什么是定语呢？下面是小编整理的英语什么是定语，欢迎阅读。

英语什么是定语

定语是用来修饰、限定、说明名词或代词的品质与特征的。 主要有形容词，此外还有名词、代词、数词、介词短语、动词不定式(短语)、分词、定语从句或相当于形容词的词、短语或句子都可以作定语。 汉语中常用‘……的’表示。

定语和中心语之间是修饰和被修饰、限制和被限制的关系。

在汉语中，中心语与定语二者之间有的需要用结构助词“的”，有的不需要，有的可要可不要。 “的”是定语的标志。在英语语法中，定语有许多的运用，需要遵循很多相关规律。

英语中定语位置的规律

在英语表达中，一个名词常常会有一个或多个形容词或名词做定语来说明其性质、特征、用途等。考生在解答与这种语言现象有关的题目时，常不知道怎样确定多个定语的排列顺序。本文拟从九个方面予以探讨性解答，以资备考。

一、前位限定词总在前面。

前位限定词指many，much，any，some，no，(a)little，(a)few等表示数量的形容词，

数词one，two，three

以及形容词性的物主代词my，his，her，⋯ ， 还有all，both，every等不定代词。如：

1. many Chinese students

2. two exciting days

3. my favorite English songs

二、主观词+客观词。说话人对事物主观性评价的定语在前，客观性评价的定语在后。如：

1. our great powerful motherland，

2. the beautiful large garden,

3. a comfortable bright meeting-room,

4. any lovely clever children

三、序数词+基数词。碰到数词定语时，一般地，序数词在前，基数词在后。如：

1. the first three newcomers,

2. the last few weeks

3. 一How was your recent visit to Qingdao?—It was great.We visited 8 friends, and spent the days at the seaside .

A.few last sunny B.1ast few sunny

C.1ast sunny few D.few sunny hst

答案B。

四、少音节词+多音节词。当几个形容词同时修饰一个名词时，还可以根据行文习惯，通过音节的多少来确定定语的顺序。如：

1) an old exalting story

2) my new Australian friend

3) two tall strong-looking policemen

4) a good effective method.

五、(制作)方式+材料+用途。当有几个名词做定语时，常以这种方式排列。如：

1) a handmade wood chair

2) a newly-built stone store house

六、“县官行令杀国才”。该谐音语中的“县”指前位“限定词”，“官”指冠词，“行”指表示事物形状(大小、长短、高矮等)的词，“令”指表示人或事物的年龄、新旧的词，“杀”为“色”的谐音，指表示色彩的词，“国”指国家、地区(产地)的词，“才”指(制作的)材料。如：

1. all the long old white stone bridges

2. a high old grey stone building

3. her lovely children

应注意的是在运用中不一定这几个定语同时出现，但顺序却是不变的。如：

1. all the long bridges

2. the old white walls

3. the widest Chinese river

4. a newly built Japanese factory

七、由such，so等构成的特殊短语做定语时，常有下列句型：

(1)such/what/quite +a(an)+adj.+ n.

(2)so/too/how/as+ adj. +a(an)+ n.

(3)亦可有句型：a(an)+quite/rather+ adj. a(n)+ n),如：

1. It is such a beautiful day，isn’t it?

2. How beautiful a country China is!

3. You are as brave a boy as the little hero, aren't you?

4. It was quite a cold day(a quite cold day).

八、定语后置情况。

(1)不定代词的定语要后置。如：

1. Is there anything nice recently?

2. The boy found something strange in that room.

(2)副词做定语要后置。某些表示地点、方位、时间的副词作定语时，通常要后置。常见作后置定语的副词有：back, here, there, above, below,，abroad，in，out，before，yesterday，downstairs, upstairs等等。如： 1) I bought it on my way home. Who else wants to try? 2) The people there are very polite to visitors. 3) The air here is very fresh. 这儿的空气很新鲜。 4) Listen to the tape and fill in the correct information in the space below. 5) The people there are very friendly. 那里的人们非常友好。

6) The child was lost in the crowd and couldn’t find the way back.那个孩子在人群中迷路了，找不到回去的路了。 7) When do you think the inventions in the pictures above were made? 你认为上面图片里的物体是什么时候发明的? 8) The man downstairs got home very late that night.楼下的那个人那天晚上回来得很晚。 9) It had been fine the day before. 前一天的天气很好。

10)Please fetch me the electric shaver from the room downstairs.请帮我把楼下房间里的电动剃须刀拿来。

11) It is for the people on the floors.

(3)短语构成的定语要后置。如：

1. I've got a letter to type out.

2. He’s such a man—easy to get along with.

(4)以a一开头的形容词常做表语，做定语时后置。常用形容词有alone，alive，awake，asleep等。如：

1. There stood a high tower—alone on the bank of the lake.

2. The boy caught a strange fish—alive in the pond now.

九、由数字构成的复合形容词做定语。如：

1. She has an eight-year-old brother.(前置定语)

2. She has a brother of eight years old.(后置定语)

3. They built a five-hundred-meter-long bridge over the river.

4. They built a bridge of five hundred metres over the river.

应当注意的是，有连字符时前置，不管数字是多少，名词要用单数，后置定语时去掉连字符，名词用复数。

巩固性小练习

1)There’s— — with my watch.I'll have it repaired.

A.anything wrong B.something wrong

C.wrong anything D.wrong something

2)The_____policemen are very kind to the visitors.

A.British tall young B.British young tall

C.tall British young D.tall young British

3)Helen is reading_____story when the teacher carne secretly close to her desk.

A.a detective old exciting

B.an old detective exciting

C.an old exciting detective

D.an exciting old detective

答案：B D C

参考文后：定语后置现象小结:

十、名词做定语应注意的问题

1)名词用做定语时，通常以单数形式出现(即使这个作定语的名词有复数意义也是这样)。例如：

book store(书店)tooth brush(牙刷)

newspaper reporter

traffic lights(交通灯)

coffee cup(咖啡杯)

gold watch(金表)

stone bridges (石桥)

winter vacation(寒假) night school(夜校)

枷friend(女朋友) work plan(T作计划)

2)有些总是以复数形式出现的名词，在用做定语时，也往往用其单数形式。例如： trouser pocket(裤兜)

trouser legs裤腿

a trouser factory裤子工厂

shoe shop(鞋店)

shoelace鞋带

shoemaker制[补]鞋工人, 鞋铺老板

3)但是sports，goods，customs，arms，savings和accounts等名词做定语时，仍用复数形式。例如：

sports meet运动会

customs officer 海关官员

goods-train 货车

savings bank储蓄银行

4)一些以. cs结尾的单数名词做定语时，词尾不变;一些以一S结尾的单数名词用做定语时，仍用原来形式，词尾不变。例如：

politics professor 政治教授

physics teacher物理教师

news reporter新闻指导员

5)当数词与单位名词一起用做定语时，单位名词应用单数形式。例如：

five miles’-——a five-mile walk

two hours’------- a two-hour plan

fifteen years’——a fifteen-year-old boy

thirty pounds’——a thirty-pound note

注意：名词做形容词表示单位用单数形式。例如：

a nine~storey building一座九层大楼

two twenty-inch rulers两把二英尺长的尺子

6)man和woman作定语

若将man, woman置于名词前作定语，则man, woman的数应与其后名词的数一致。如： a woman teacher 一位女教师

two women teachers 两位女教师

a woman doctor女医生

two women doctors两位女医生

a woman athlete; 女运动员;two women athletes; 两位女运动员;

a woman electrician. 女电工技师

two women electricians. 两位女电工技师a man cook (men cooks) 男厨师

十一、定语后置现象小结:

定语大多放在被修饰中心词的前面，但也存在不少的后置现象，

一)形容词作后置定语的几种情况

1. 当形容词修饰由 any-, every-, no-, some- 和 -body,-one, -thing 等构成的复合不定代词时，形容词需要后置。

2. 当形容词修饰起名词作用的 anywhere ， somewhere 时，通常后置。

3. 以 -able 或 -ible 结尾的形容词一般充当后置定语，表示暂时的特征或现象，而且中心名词前大多有形容词最高级或 all, only, every 等。

4. 以字母 a- 开头的表语形容词，如 asleep, awake, afraid, afloat, alive 等作定语时，通常后置。

5. else 修饰疑问代词时，须后置。

6. 当形容词前有 so, more, most 等词修饰时，常后置。

7. 形容词短语通常后置，其功能相当于一个定语从句。

8. 两个或两个以上的形容词用 and 或 or 连接作定语，表示强调意义时要后置。

9. 形容词比较结构须后置定语。

10. 有些形容词作前置定语时和后置定语时所表达的意义不同。

二)副词 here, there, in, out, above, below, home, abroad, before, yesterday 等作定语时，需要后置。

三)介词短语作定语时须后置。

四)、动词不定式(短语)作定语时须后置。

五)单个分词(包括现在分词和过去分词)作定语时，如果强调的不是永久的特点，而仅是分词本身的动作时，通常后置;分词短语则须作后置定语。例如：

六)定语从句通常用作后置定语。

英语定语表示法

一、 名词作前置定语

名词作前置定语应注意：

1. 通常表示在以下几种情况。

(1) 中心词的用途或功能: a milk bottle, eye drops

(2)发生的时间: an evening party, birthday card, summer vacation

(3) 处所: Tsinghua University, Tian An Men Square, Nanjing Road

(4) 性别或身份: a boy friend, a baby kangaroo

(5) 性质或类别: the paper tiger, the time table

2. man和woman作定语时应注意其单复数形式。

例a man doctor---men doctors 男医生

a woman engineer---women engineers 女工程师

3. 表示时间、距离、国家、城市、团体等的名词作定语可以用加’s所有格的形式。

例today’s newspaper, ten minutes’ walk, China’s industry

4. 某些名词如sports, goods, clothes, sales等作定语时只用复数。

例a sports car 一辆跑车

a sales manager 一位销售经理

5. 名词作定语和所有格作定语的区别。

例girl friend 女朋友---the girl’s friend 那位女孩的朋友

women drivers 女司机--- the woman’s driver 那位妇女的司机

1. The_____ is just around the corner and you won’t miss it.

A. bicycle’s shop B. bicycle shop C. bicycle shops D. bicycles’ shop

2. He dropped the____ and broke it.

A. cup of coffee B. coffee’s cup C. cup for coffee D. coffee cup key BD

注：名词作定语修饰另一名词，若前后两个名词都是人或物时，一般不用’s所有格形式。 例 My brother takes care of the vegetable garden.

Today country music has returned.

二、 分词作前置定语或后置定语

分词作定语时：

1. 应注意它与被修饰的名词之间的关系。现在分词与被修饰名词构成主谓关系;过去分词则与被修饰名词构成动宾关系。因此，现在分词带有主动和进行的意义，过去分词带有被动和完成的意义。

2. 一般地说，单个分词作定语时，放在被修饰的名词之前作前置定语;分词短语作定语时，则放在被修饰的名词之后作后置定语。

例 a developing country 发展中国家

a developed country 发达国家

The boy singing now is a classmate of mine.

1. The disc, digitally _________ in the studio, sounded fantastic at the party that night.

A. recorded B. recording C. to be recorded D. having recorded

2. The picture_____ on the wall is painted by my nephew.

A. having hung B. hanging C. hangs D. being hung

3. The Olympic Games, _____in 776 B.C., did not include women players until 1912.

A. first playing B. to be first played C. first played D. to be first playing

key ABC

三、动名词作前置定语

动名词和现在分词的形式一样，都由动词+ing构成，都可作定语，动名词所修饰的一般是物，表示所修饰名词的用途、性质或功能，具有名词的性质，它同所修饰的名词间不存在主谓关系。

例a walking(为动名词) stick=a stick which is used for walking

an ironing(为动名词) board=a board which is used for ironing

a sleeping (为现在分词) boy=a boy who is sleeping 在睡觉的男孩

a sleeping (为动名词) bag=a bag which is used for sleeping 睡袋

四、动词不定式作后置定语

动词不定式作定语应注意：

1. 表示将要发生的动作，有时根据句意需要加上介词，这时介词不能省略，因为被修饰的名

词是它的宾语。

例The farmers thought of ways to protect their crops.

We have only a small cold room to live in.

2. 用于修饰被序数词、最高级或no, all, any等限定的中心词。

例 Marie Curie became the first woman in France to be a university professor.

She was the first person in the word to receive two Nobel Prize.

He was the best man to do the job.

3. 根据不同的句意，不定式可用主动语态或被动语态。

例 Have you got anything to post? (post的动作执行者是“你”)

Have you got anything to be posted?(post的动作执行者是“我”或“别人”)

There are some plates to wash (to be washed).

1. I’m going to the supermarket this afternoon. Do you have anything______?

A. to be buying B. to buy C. for buying D. bought

2. She will tell us why she feels so strongly that each of us has a role_______ in making the earth a better place to live.

A. to have played B. to play C. to be played D. to be playing key BB

五、形容词作前置定语或后置定语

1. 多个形容词修饰一个名词时，与该名词关系密切的、反应名词最本质的形容词最靠近该名词，一般排序如下： 限定词+数量形容词+描绘性形容词+大小、长短、高低等形容词+ 新旧、老幼形容词+ 颜色+ 国籍+ 材料+ 被修饰的名词。

2. 形容词修饰以-body,-one,-thing,-where结尾的复合不定代词，常作后置定语。

例 I have something important to tell you.

We didn’t meet anybody new at the party.

3. 多数以a-开头的形容词，如afraid, alive, alone, asleep, awake, ashamed, alike等只能作后置定语。

Until recently, the only milu deer alive in the world belonged to the Duke of Bedford in English.

1.---How was your recent visit to Qingdao?

---It was great. We visited some friends, and spent the____ days at the seaside.

A. few last sunny B. last few sunny C. last sunny few D. few sunny last

2. ________students are required to take part in the boat race.

A. Ten strong young Chinese B. Ten Chinese strong young

C. Chinese ten young strong D. Young strong ten Chinese

3. John Smith, a successful businessman, has a _______ car.

A. large German white B. large white German

C. white large German D. German large white

4. The house smells as if it hasn’t been lived in for years.

A. little white wooden B. little wooden white

C. white wooden little D. wooden white little

5. This_______ girl is Linda’s cousin.

A. pretty little Spanish B. Spanish little pretty

C. Spanish pretty little D. little pretty Spanish

key BABAA

六、数词作前置定语

数词作定语应注意：

1. 基数词与序数词连用时，序数词通常在前。

例 the first five pages of the book 这本书的前五页

2. 序数词前通常加定冠词the，表顺序，但也可以加不定冠词a/an，表示“又，再”。 例Try a second time and you’ll succeed. 再试一次，你会成功。

1. Many students signed up for the______ race in the sports meeting to be held next week.

A. 800-metre-long B.800-metres-long C. 800 metre length D.800 metres length

key A

七、代词作前置定语

形容词性物主代词、指示代词、不定代词修饰名词都作前置定语。

1.---Have you finished your report yet?

---No, I’ll finish it in_____ ten minutes.

A. another B. other C. more D. less

2. ---Can you come on Monday or Tuesday?

---I’m afraid day is possible.

A. either B. neither C. some D. any

key AB

注：another和more的用法：another+数词+名词，而数词+more+名词。

another two hours

two more hours

八、副词作后置定语

副词修饰名词作定语时常后置，常见的副词here, there, out, up, down, home, abroad, together 等。

例 The peasants there are very friendly.

I met Mr. Wang on my way home.

九、介词短语作后置定语

介词短语修饰名词或代词只能作后置定语。 如例 The girl in a red coat is my sister.

One of the most important temples in danger was the one at Abu Symbol.

Nowhere else in the world can there be such a quiet, beautiful place.

十、从句作后置定语

(1)先行词的选择;

(2)非限制性定语从句的判断及先行词的使用;

(3)定语从句与其他从句的区别。解题时应注意分析具体的语义、语境及句子结构，首先应判断先行词在句中担当何种成分，再选择不同的关系代词或副词。

1. There are two buildings; _____ stands nearly a hundred feet high.

A. the larger B. the larger of them C. the larger one that D. the larger of which

2. The place_______ the bridge is supposed to be built should be________the cross-river traffic is the heaviest.

A. which, where B. at which, which C. at which, where D. which, in which

3. Great changes have taken place in that school. It is no longer______ it was 20 years ago, ______ it was so poorly equipped.

A. what, when B. that, which C. what, which D. which, that

4. His sister has become a lawyer, _____she wanted to be.

A. who B. that C. what D. which

5. There were dirty marks on her trousers____ she had wiped her hands.

A. where B. which C. when D. what

6. ____is often the case, we have work out the production plan.

A. Which B. When C. What D. As

key DCADAD

注：as引导的非限制性定语从句的位置比较灵活，可位于句首、句中、句末，而which在定语从句中可以作主语或宾语，不能位于句首。

II定语的后置

在英语中，如果定语是由一个单词表示时，通常要前置。而由一个词组或一个句子表示时，通常则后置。而以下情况是由单个单词作定语并后置的几种现象。

一、形容词enough作定语，而着重点又是强调它所修饰的那个名词，或者它所修饰的名词起形容词作用且前面不加冠词时，通常要后置。例如：

I haven't time enough to do the work.我没有足够的时间做那件工作。

He hasn't man enough to admit his mistake.他没有勇于认错的大丈夫气概。

二、当定语是一个形容词，它所修饰的是由any-,every-, some-等跟-body, -one,-thing构成的复合代词时，通常后置。例如：

There is some- thing important in today's newspaper.今天的报纸上有条重要新闻。

He wanted to get someone reliable to help in this work.他想找个可靠的人帮忙做这项工作。

三、它所修饰的词前面有用以加强语气的the one等之类的词语时须后置。定语由形容词表示，它所修饰的词是起名词作用的anywhere, somewhere等时，也须后置。例如： This is the one thing needful.这是唯一需要的东西。

Can you find anywhere quiet?你能找个清静的地方吗?

He has been sent to somewhere particular.他被派到某个特定的地方去了。

四、定语由here, there, in, out, home, above, below, abroad, before, yesterday等副词充当时，往往要后置。例如：

He is on his way home.他在回家途中。

Can you tell me something about the social system there?你能给我讲讲那里的社会制度吗?

It had been fine the day before.前一天的天气很好。

五、定语为现在分词或过去分词时，如果它强调的不是比较永久的特点，而是分词本身的动作，则通常要后置。例如：

Most of the people singing are the students.唱歌的人多数是学生。

Their high standard showed the progress made.他们的高水平表明了他们取得的进步。

六、定语由某些以-able或-ible结尾的形容词充当时，有时也后置。这类后置定语有时只表示暂时的特征、现象等。例如：

It's the only solution possible.这是唯一可能采取的解决办法。

Are there any tickets available?还有票吗?

That's the only star visible now.那是颗现在唯一可见的星。

七、有些只具有表语功能的形容词作定语时，必须后置。例如：

He was the only person awake at the moment.他是那时唯一醒着的人。

He is one of the few workers alive today who took part in the strike.他是参加过这次罢工还活着的少数工人之一。

八、else用来修饰复合代词、疑问代词等时，必须后置。例如：

Little else remains to be done.没有剩下什么事要做的了。

Who else wanted to go there?还有谁想去那儿?

九、在某些固定搭配中，单词作定语也常常要后置。例如： the sum total总数 secretary general秘书 the third person singular第三人称单数