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#postpositive
#adjectives
Postpositive Adjectives in Technical English
5 exercises — practise placing available, present, involved, and affected after the noun in fixed technical patterns.
0 / 40 completed
1 / 40
Which sentence correctly places "available" after the noun it modifies, as required in this fixed technical usage?
"Deploy to the first server available in the pool" is correct here: when modifying a superlative or ordinal like "the first", "available" conventionally follows the noun (postpositive position) — "the first server available" is the standard idiomatic pattern. Option B, placing "available" before the noun, is also grammatical in general but doesn't match the fixed "the first ___ available" idiom being tested. Option C scrambles the intended word order. Option D inserts an ungrammatical bare "that available".
2 / 40
Choose the sentence that correctly uses "present" postpositively to mean "attending" or "existing at this point", rather than the different meaning it has before the noun.
"All engineers present at the incident review..." is correct: postpositive "present" means "in attendance", while prenominal "present" (as in "the present engineer") would instead mean "current/existing now" — a different meaning entirely. Option B shifts "present" before the noun, changing the meaning to "current engineers" rather than "engineers who attended". Option C incorrectly inserts "are", creating a run-on sentence. Option D confuses the adjective "present" with the adverb "presently".
3 / 40
Which sentence correctly uses "involved" in postpositive position to describe the people connected to an incident, distinguishing it from the different sense it has before the noun?
"All teams involved in the outage joined the retrospective call" is correct: postpositive "involved" clearly means "connected to/participating in", while placing it before the noun ("the involved teams") can sound clinical or legalistic in everyday technical prose. Option B, though understandable, is not the natural, standard placement for this meaning. Option C incorrectly uses the present participle "involving". Option D uses the wrong preposition "of" instead of "in".
4 / 40
Select the sentence that correctly uses "affected" postpositively to describe the scope of an incident in a status update.
"Customers affected by the outage will receive a service credit..." is correct: "affected by" is the standard postpositive pattern with the correct preposition "by". Option B moves "affected" before the noun, which is also grammatical generally but doesn't match the fixed postpositive idiom used in most status communications. Option C incorrectly uses the present participle "affecting". Option D uses the wrong preposition "from" instead of "by".
5 / 40
Which sentence correctly uses "applicable" postpositively in a compliance clause, following the fixed legal-technical phrase "where applicable"?
"...to all affected systems, where applicable" is correct: "where applicable" is a fixed postpositive phrase used to qualify a statement without repeating the full condition. Option B misplaces "applicable" before "affected systems" and leaves a dangling "where". Option C adds a redundant, ungrammatical "it is". Option D reverses the fixed word order of the idiom.
6 / 40
Reviewer: "The API response shows a 'timeout' error. The documentation states the endpoint should return data within 200ms."Postpositive 'timeout' describes the state of the API response. We need to indicate that the endpoint took longer than expected (more than 200ms), not that the response itself was timed out. Option A incorrectly uses 'exhibited' before 'timeout', and option D suggests acceptable performance, which is incorrect given the documentation.
7 / 40
"Sarah (DevOps):" 'We're seeing a high volume of requests failed to process within the last hour.' What's the most precise way to convey this in a Slack message to the team?
'Failed' in this context describes the outcome of the requests. The options presented all describe the same situation but 'failed' postpositively is more technically accurate than phrasing like 'were failing'. Options 1 and 2 are too vague, and option 4 unnecessarily repeats 'a significant number'.
8 / 40
PR Description: "Implemented a new feature to improve the handled error rates in the authentication service."'Handled' postpositively specifies how the error rate was improved. It indicates that a change was made to allow the service to manage or deal with errors more effectively. Options A and B are unclear, and option D is overly verbose.
9 / 40
API Response (JSON): {
"status": "200",
"message": "Operation completed successfully. The data was generated by the process."
}'Generated' postpositively describes the action performed by the 'process'. This indicates that the process created or produced the data. Options 2 and 3 have awkward phrasing, and option 4 is unnecessarily complex.
10 / 40
"Mark (Lead Dev):" 'I spent the morning investigating the issue with the database connection. The logs showed that the connection was established.' What's the best way for Mark to report this in a stand-up update?
'Established' postpositively describes the state of the connection. This is a precise technical description of what Mark did. Options 2 and 3 are too verbose or simply state the task without detail, while option 4 doesn't provide information about the issue itself.
11 / 40
Reviewer: "The API response shows a 'timeout' error. The documentation states the endpoint should return data within 200ms."Postpositive 'timeout' describes the state of the API response. We need to indicate that the endpoint took longer than expected (more than 200ms), not that the response itself was timed out. Option A incorrectly uses 'exhibited' before 'timeout', and option D suggests acceptable performance, which is incorrect given the documentation.
12 / 40
"Sarah (DevOps):" 'We're seeing a high volume of requests failed to process within the last hour.' What's the most precise way to convey this in a Slack message to the team?
'Failed' in this context describes the outcome of the requests. The options presented all describe the same situation but 'failed' postpositively is more technically accurate than phrasing like 'were failing'. Options 1 and 2 are too vague, and option 4 unnecessarily repeats 'a significant number'.
13 / 40
PR Description: "Implemented a new feature to improve the handled error rates in the authentication service."'Handled' postpositively specifies how the error rate was improved. It indicates that a change was made to allow the service to manage or deal with errors more effectively. Options A and B are unclear, and option D is overly verbose.
14 / 40
API Response (JSON): {
"status": "200",
"message": "Operation completed successfully. The data was generated by the process."
}'Generated' postpositively describes the action performed by the 'process'. This indicates that the process created or produced the data. Options 2 and 3 have awkward phrasing, and option 4 is unnecessarily complex.
15 / 40
"Mark (Lead Dev):" 'I spent the morning investigating the issue with the database connection. The logs showed that the connection was established.' What's the best way for Mark to report this in a stand-up update?
'Established' postpositively describes the state of the connection. This is a precise technical description of what Mark did. Options 2 and 3 are too verbose or simply state the task without detail, while option 4 doesn't provide information about the issue itself.
16 / 40
Reviewer: "The API response shows a 'timeout' error. The documentation states the endpoint should return data within 200ms."Postpositive 'timeout' describes the state of the API response. We need to indicate that the endpoint took longer than expected (more than 200ms), not that the response itself was timed out. Option A incorrectly uses 'exhibited' before 'timeout', and option D suggests acceptable performance, which is incorrect given the documentation.
17 / 40
"Sarah (DevOps):" 'We're seeing a high volume of requests failed to process within the last hour.' What's the most precise way to convey this in a Slack message to the team?
'Failed' in this context describes the outcome of the requests. The options presented all describe the same situation but 'failed' postpositively is more technically accurate than phrasing like 'were failing'. Options 1 and 2 are too vague, and option 4 unnecessarily repeats 'a significant number'.
18 / 40
PR Description: "Implemented a new feature to improve the handled error rates in the authentication service."'Handled' postpositively specifies how the error rate was improved. It indicates that a change was made to allow the service to manage or deal with errors more effectively. Options A and B are unclear, and option D is overly verbose.
19 / 40
API Response (JSON): {
"status": "200",
"message": "Operation completed successfully. The data was generated by the process."
}'Generated' postpositively describes the action performed by the 'process'. This indicates that the process created or produced the data. Options 2 and 3 have awkward phrasing, and option 4 is unnecessarily complex.
20 / 40
"Mark (Lead Dev):" 'I spent the morning investigating the issue with the database connection. The logs showed that the connection was established.' What's the best way for Mark to report this in a stand-up update?
'Established' postpositively describes the state of the connection. This is a precise technical description of what Mark did. Options 2 and 3 are too verbose or simply state the task without detail, while option 4 doesn't provide information about the issue itself.
21 / 40
Reviewer: "The API response shows a 'timeout' error. The documentation states the endpoint should return data within 200ms."Postpositive 'timeout' describes the state of the API response. We need to indicate that the endpoint took longer than expected (more than 200ms), not that the response itself was timed out. Option A incorrectly uses 'exhibited' before 'timeout', and option D suggests acceptable performance, which is incorrect given the documentation.
22 / 40
"Sarah (DevOps):" 'We're seeing a high volume of requests failed to process within the last hour.' What's the most precise way to convey this in a Slack message to the team?
'Failed' in this context describes the outcome of the requests. The options presented all describe the same situation but 'failed' postpositively is more technically accurate than phrasing like 'were failing'. Options 1 and 2 are too vague, and option 4 unnecessarily repeats 'a significant number'.
23 / 40
PR Description: "Implemented a new feature to improve the handled error rates in the authentication service."'Handled' postpositively specifies how the error rate was improved. It indicates that a change was made to allow the service to manage or deal with errors more effectively. Options A and B are unclear, and option D is overly verbose.
24 / 40
API Response (JSON): {
"status": "200",
"message": "Operation completed successfully. The data was generated by the process."
}'Generated' postpositively describes the action performed by the 'process'. This indicates that the process created or produced the data. Options 2 and 3 have awkward phrasing, and option 4 is unnecessarily complex.
25 / 40
"Mark (Lead Dev):" 'I spent the morning investigating the issue with the database connection. The logs showed that the connection was established.' What's the best way for Mark to report this in a stand-up update?
'Established' postpositively describes the state of the connection. This is a precise technical description of what Mark did. Options 2 and 3 are too verbose or simply state the task without detail, while option 4 doesn't provide information about the issue itself.
26 / 40
Reviewer: "The API response shows a 'timeout' error. The documentation states the endpoint should return data within 200ms."Postpositive 'timeout' describes the state of the API response. We need to indicate that the endpoint took longer than expected (more than 200ms), not that the response itself was timed out. Option A incorrectly uses 'exhibited' before 'timeout', and option D suggests acceptable performance, which is incorrect given the documentation.
27 / 40
"Sarah (DevOps):" 'We're seeing a high volume of requests failed to process within the last hour.' What's the most precise way to convey this in a Slack message to the team?
'Failed' in this context describes the outcome of the requests. The options presented all describe the same situation but 'failed' postpositively is more technically accurate than phrasing like 'were failing'. Options 1 and 2 are too vague, and option 4 unnecessarily repeats 'a significant number'.
28 / 40
PR Description: "Implemented a new feature to improve the handled error rates in the authentication service."'Handled' postpositively specifies how the error rate was improved. It indicates that a change was made to allow the service to manage or deal with errors more effectively. Options A and B are unclear, and option D is overly verbose.
29 / 40
API Response (JSON): {
"status": "200",
"message": "Operation completed successfully. The data was generated by the process."
}'Generated' postpositively describes the action performed by the 'process'. This indicates that the process created or produced the data. Options 2 and 3 have awkward phrasing, and option 4 is unnecessarily complex.
30 / 40
"Mark (Lead Dev):" 'I spent the morning investigating the issue with the database connection. The logs showed that the connection was established.' What's the best way for Mark to report this in a stand-up update?
'Established' postpositively describes the state of the connection. This is a precise technical description of what Mark did. Options 2 and 3 are too verbose or simply state the task without detail, while option 4 doesn't provide information about the issue itself.
31 / 40
Reviewer: "The API response shows a 'timeout' error. The documentation states the endpoint should return data within 200ms."Postpositive 'timeout' describes the state of the API response. We need to indicate that the endpoint took longer than expected (more than 200ms), not that the response itself was timed out. Option A incorrectly uses 'exhibited' before 'timeout', and option D suggests acceptable performance, which is incorrect given the documentation.
32 / 40
"Sarah (DevOps):" 'We're seeing a high volume of requests failed to process within the last hour.' What's the most precise way to convey this in a Slack message to the team?
'Failed' in this context describes the outcome of the requests. The options presented all describe the same situation but 'failed' postpositively is more technically accurate than phrasing like 'were failing'. Options 1 and 2 are too vague, and option 4 unnecessarily repeats 'a significant number'.
33 / 40
PR Description: "Implemented a new feature to improve the handled error rates in the authentication service."'Handled' postpositively specifies how the error rate was improved. It indicates that a change was made to allow the service to manage or deal with errors more effectively. Options A and B are unclear, and option D is overly verbose.
34 / 40
API Response (JSON): {
"status": "200",
"message": "Operation completed successfully. The data was generated by the process."
}'Generated' postpositively describes the action performed by the 'process'. This indicates that the process created or produced the data. Options 2 and 3 have awkward phrasing, and option 4 is unnecessarily complex.
35 / 40
"Mark (Lead Dev):" 'I spent the morning investigating the issue with the database connection. The logs showed that the connection was established.' What's the best way for Mark to report this in a stand-up update?
'Established' postpositively describes the state of the connection. This is a precise technical description of what Mark did. Options 2 and 3 are too verbose or simply state the task without detail, while option 4 doesn't provide information about the issue itself.
36 / 40
Reviewer: "The API response shows a 'timeout' error. The documentation states the endpoint should return data within 200ms."Postpositive 'timeout' describes the state of the API response. We need to indicate that the endpoint took longer than expected (more than 200ms), not that the response itself was timed out. Option A incorrectly uses 'exhibited' before 'timeout', and option D suggests acceptable performance, which is incorrect given the documentation.
37 / 40
"Sarah (DevOps):" 'We're seeing a high volume of requests failed to process within the last hour.' What's the most precise way to convey this in a Slack message to the team?
'Failed' in this context describes the outcome of the requests. The options presented all describe the same situation but 'failed' postpositively is more technically accurate than phrasing like 'were failing'. Options 1 and 2 are too vague, and option 4 unnecessarily repeats 'a significant number'.
38 / 40
PR Description: "Implemented a new feature to improve the handled error rates in the authentication service."'Handled' postpositively specifies how the error rate was improved. It indicates that a change was made to allow the service to manage or deal with errors more effectively. Options A and B are unclear, and option D is overly verbose.
39 / 40
API Response (JSON): {
"status": "200",
"message": "Operation completed successfully. The data was generated by the process."
}'Generated' postpositively describes the action performed by the 'process'. This indicates that the process created or produced the data. Options 2 and 3 have awkward phrasing, and option 4 is unnecessarily complex.
40 / 40
"Mark (Lead Dev):" 'I spent the morning investigating the issue with the database connection. The logs showed that the connection was established.' What's the best way for Mark to report this in a stand-up update?
'Established' postpositively describes the state of the connection. This is a precise technical description of what Mark did. Options 2 and 3 are too verbose or simply state the task without detail, while option 4 doesn't provide information about the issue itself.
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What will I practise in "Postpositive Adjectives in Technical English — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise placing adjectives like available, present, involved, affected, and applicable after the noun they modify, following fixed patterns used in status
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This module has 40 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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