A practical english grammar - Vyssaja skola 1978
Adverbs as modifiers of nouns
Sound symbols
Adverbs and adverbial expressions of location and time are readily joined to nouns after linking verbs.
The man is upstairs.
Everyone is here.
The chair is in the corner.
The meeting is tomorrow.
If these expressions are used next to the noun, they follow the noun.
the man upstairs
everyone here
the chair in the corner
the meeting tomorrow
A further step transforms the adverb into a modifier that can occur before the noun: the upstairs room; but the student must be warned that this is not a free process. Those that are so used must be learned as special items. There are even a few adverbial phrases that can precede nouns: an on-the-spot investigation, an after-the-theater party.
The following list illustrates some modifiers that are normally classed as adjectives or noun adjuncts on the basis of their position before the noun. Some are of the type we have seen in upstairs, some may be viewed as fragments of adverbial phrases (undersea), some are regarded as adjectives pure and simple (former), but all have some degree of adverbial force.
the morning paper
the then president
the former champion
undersea exploration overhead wires an after-dinner speech
An interesting device that is often used to express the same idea as that of a verb and its adverb is the combination adjective + agent noun. If we say “Mary is a good dancer,” we mean that she dances well. Similarly, “hard worker” names someone who works hard, “swift runner” someone who runs swiftly, etc.