在英语句子中，前置定语很简单，不会造成我们理解上的困难，但是后置定语的构成比较复杂，会给我们的理解原由网带来不小的麻烦，所以要能清晰地分析多重后置定语的修饰关系。在分析复杂的后置定语修饰之前，我们首先要了解后置定语的种类。
1. 后置定语的种类
后置定语有五种，介词短语、形容词短语、分词短语、不定式和定语从句
介词短语(prep.+n.)
A girl in the room, a picture on the wall
形容词短语(adj.+prep.+n.)
a book useful for you, components necessary for production
分词短语(v-ing /v-ed)
A boywearing black jeans, a softwaredeveloped for the project
不定式(to do sth)
A way to solve the problem
定语从句
We are studying sentences which contain adjective clauses.
2. 后置定语组合关系：递进定语修饰和并列定语修饰
2.1 递进定语修饰
递进定语修饰指每个后置定语都是修饰紧靠其前的名词，然后多个叠加，一环扣一环，如下句：
(1) Behaviorists suggest that the child who is raised in an environment where there are many stimuli which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses will experience greater intellectual development.
在句(1)中，who引导的定语从句修饰child，where引导的定语从句修饰environment，which引导的定语从句修饰stimuli，每个定语从句都是修饰紧靠其前的名词，所以是递进定语修饰类型
(2) Anthropologists and others are on much firmer ground when they attempt to describe the cultural norms for a small homogeneous tribe or village than when they undertake the formidable task of discovering the norms that exist in a complex modern nation-state composed of many 原由网disparate groups.
在句(2)中，for a small homogeneous...修饰norms，of discovering the norms修饰task，that exist in a complex...修饰norms，composed of many disparate groups修原由网饰nation-state，每个后置定语都是修饰紧靠其前的名词，所以也是层层相扣的递进修饰。
2.2 并列定语修饰
并列型定语修饰，就是一个中心词带有两个或两个以上的定语（绝大部分是两个，三个比较少）来共同修饰这一个中心词，如下句：
(3) Many people believe that bewww.58yuanyou.comcause wages are lower in developing countries than in developed countries, competition from developingcountries in goods traded internationally will soon eliminate large numbers of jobs in developed countries.
在句(3)，from developingcountries修饰competition，而in goods traded internationally修饰的不是countries而是competition，因为如果修饰countries，那么在语义上是不通顺的，所以要往前找到真正的修饰对象competition，“国际化交易商品的竞争”在语义上就通顺了。
所以，判断多重后置定语是递进修饰还是并列修饰，要看语义。第二个定语修饰紧靠前面的名词语义通顺时，则是递进修饰，如不通顺，则是并列修饰。
(4) Most novelists and historians writing in the early to mid-twentieth century who considered women in the West, when they considered women at all, fell under Turner’s spell.
在句(4)中，writing in the early to mid-twentieth century 修饰novelists and historians，而who引导的定语从句显然不能修饰century，要修饰人，所以往前找到修饰对象novelists andhistorians，因此writing in the early to mid-twentieth century 和who considered...并列修饰novelists and historians
2.3 两种后置定语修饰混合
递进修饰和并列修饰也可在一个句子中都出现，如下句：
(5) The government is to ban payments to witnesses by newspapers seeking to buy up people involved in prominent cases such as the trial of Rosemary West.
在这个句子中，to witnesses 和by newspapers并列//www.58yuanyou.com修饰payments，seeking to buy...修饰newspaper，involved in prominent...修饰people，是递进修饰，并列修饰和递进修饰都出现在了这个句子中。
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