Adjective Order in Sentences
Order adjectives within sentences according to conventional English patterns (opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose) to produce natural-sounding descriptions
What a learner can do afterwards
- Arrange multiple adjectives before a noun in conventional order, e.g. 'a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife' simplified to classroom examples like 'a small red bag' not 'a red small bag'
- Identify when adjective order sounds unnatural and rearrange to match English conventions, e.g. correct 'the wooden big table' to 'the big wooden table'
- Apply the size-before-colour-before-material pattern in descriptive writing, e.g. 'a tall grey stone castle' rather than 'a stone grey tall castle'
1 · Read
When you put more than one adjective before a noun, like 'a small red bag', English has a usual order for stacking them. Say the adjectives in that order and the sentence sounds natural. Mix up the order and the sentence still makes sense, but it sounds a bit odd to a reader.
Zara is describing a castle. She could write 'a stone grey tall castle', but that sounds backwards. Size comes before colour, and colour comes before material, so the natural order is 'a tall grey stone castle'.
When two adjectives feel like they're competing for the same spot, say the phrase out loud both ways. Your ear usually catches the order that sounds right, especially size before colour, and colour before material.
Adjectives usually line up in this order: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, then purpose.
More to read
Commas and Adjectives
Adjectives come in families called categories: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, and material. When two adjectives come from the same family, put a comma between them. "A mushy, sticky apple" needs a comma because mushy and sticky are both opinions. When two adjectives come from different families, do not use a comma. "A mushy green apple" has no comma because mushy is an opinion and green is a colour. A quick test: if you can swap the adjectives or put the word "and" between them and it still sounds fine, use a comma.
Coordinate adjectives
Coordinate adjectives are two or more adjectives that describe the same noun in an equal way. They are separated by a comma or the word "and", like "a cold, rainy day". Adjectives in English follow a standard order. Size comes before colour, so we say "a big yellow balloon", not "a yellow big balloon". Adjectives that belong to the same category, like two opinions, are coordinate and can switch places. Adjectives from different categories must keep the standard order and do not get a comma.
2 · Watch
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