Adjective Order in Sentences · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.
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Lining Up Your Adjectives

English · Grammar & Punctuation · ages 9-10
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. In 'a big old house', the size word comes before the age word.

    Circle one:   True   False

  2. Which sentence sounds natural in English?

    • a door lovely green
    • a green lovely door
    • a lovely green door

  3. Which sentence sounds natural in English?

    • a dog lovely little
    • a little lovely dog
    • a lovely little dog

  4. In English, colour usually comes before size in a describing phrase.

    Circle one:   True   False

  5. Which list shows describing words in their usual order?

    • opinion, size, age, shape, colour
    • size, opinion, colour, shape, age
    • colour, shape, age, size, opinion

  6. Mia wrote 'a plastic red bucket.' What is out of order?

    • 'bucket' should come first
    • 'plastic' and 'red' should swap places
    • Nothing is wrong

  7. Leo wrote 'a French old car.' What is out of order?

    • 'car' should come first
    • 'French' and 'old' should swap places
    • Nothing is wrong

  8. Ava wrote 'a Spanish red guitar.' What is out of order?

    • Nothing is wrong
    • 'guitar' should come first
    • 'Spanish' and 'red' should swap places

  9. Which sentence sounds natural?

    • an old wonderful clock
    • a wonderful old clock
    • a clock wonderful old

  10. Which phrase uses the natural adjective order?

    • a wooden old round table
    • a round wooden old table
    • an old round wooden table
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Lining Up Your Adjectives W1-mt_VVx0hPPSKi-s1

  1. True · Size comes before age in the order, so 'a big old house' lines up the right way.
  2. a lovely green door · Opinion words like 'lovely' come before colour words like 'green.'
  3. a lovely little dog · Opinion words like 'lovely' come first, before size words like 'little.'
  4. False · It's the other way round: size usually comes before colour, as in 'a small red bag.'
  5. opinion, size, age, shape, colour · The order starts opinion, size, age, shape, colour, then keeps going to origin, material, purpose.
  6. 'plastic' and 'red' should swap places · Colour comes before material, so it should be 'a red plastic bucket.'
  7. 'French' and 'old' should swap places · Age comes before origin, so it should be 'an old French car.'
  8. 'Spanish' and 'red' should swap places · Colour comes before origin, so it should be 'a red Spanish guitar.'
  9. a wonderful old clock · Opinion words like 'wonderful' come before age words like 'old.'
  10. an old round wooden table · Age comes first, then shape, then material: 'an old round wooden table.'
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