Adjective Word Order

The use of adjectives is essential when trying to describe a noun or pronoun.  Good writers and speakers are able to use adjectives to create clear, mental images for the reader or listener.  As you continue to work on your English, don’t be afraid to use multiple adjectives to describe something. Using more than three physically descriptive type adjectives in sequence to describe one noun or pronoun would sound a little awkward.   When using multiple adjectives in a sequence, you must be aware of the correct adjective order.  The proper order of adjectives is listed below along with some examples for each category.

1. Determiners – a, an, the, my, your, several, etc.
2. Observations – lovely, boring, stimulating, etc.
3. Size – tiny, small, huge, etc.
4. Shape – round, square, rectangular, etc.
5. Age – old, new, ancient, etc.
6. Color – red, blue, green, etc.
7. Origin – British, American, Mexican, etc.
8. Material – gold, copper, silk, etc.
9. Qualifier – limiters for compound nouns.

Here are some examples:

"The interesting, small, rectangular, blue car is parked in my space."
"I bought a beautiful, long, red, Italian, silk tie."
"My father lives in a lovely, gigantic, ancient, brick house."
"I have an annoying, small, circular, American, tin, alarm clock that wakes me up."
"Let’s order a delicious, huge, rectangular, pepperoni pizza."
"We all love our smart, petite, British teacher."
"They all received several dazzling, small, ancient, gold coins."
"She owns a stunning, large, old, brown dog named Boris."

By Thomas Williams, teacher at EC San Diego English school

Noun and Adjective Endings


Now choose the correct sentence:

• 1:
  
  A green, tie ugly.
  An ugly, green tie.
  A green, ugly tie.
  
  
• 2:
  
  An interesting, old book.
  An old, interesting book.
  A book, interesting old.
  
  
• 3:
  
  A wooden, big, white table.
  A white, big, wooden table.
  A big, white, wooden table.
  
  
• 4:
  
  A bent, tiny, old, blue, Swiss pen.
  An old, blue, tiny, bent, Swiss pen.
  A tiny, bent, old, blue, Swiss pen.
  
  
• 5:
  
  My middle-aged, tall, Italian, funny, husband.
  My tall, funny, middle-aged, Italian husband.
  My funny, tall, middle-aged, Italian husband.