Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Adjectives Order
Adjectives Order
Takealookatthesethreesentences.WhichoneismostlikelyinEnglish?
1.IhavejustboughtabeautifuloldhandpaintedJapaneseprint.
2.IhavejustboughtabeautifulJapaneseoldhandpaintedprint.
3.IhavejustboughtabeautifulJapanesehandpaintedoldprint.
Thewordsinredarealladjectivesanddescribetheprint.Butthe
orderofadjectivesdiffersineachsentence.
SentenceoneshowsthemostlikelyorderinEnglish.
Lookatthefollowingsentences.Noticetheorderinwhichtheadjectives(inred)are
placed:
ThefirstthreeCanadiancompetitorstocompletetheraceallbrokethenationalrecord.
ThetallyoungEnglishmanapproachedthebeautifulrichAmericanwoman.
Therewasasmallroundblackspotontheancientcarvedwoodenscreen.
Wehadlunchinacharmingold18thcenturySpanishrestaurant.
Ijustboughtanewredbicyclepump.
Adjectivesarefuntolearn,andit'salwaysgoodtohaveabigpersonalstoreofthem
availableforuse.Adjectivesmakeyourlanguagebothmorepreciseandmore
individual.Butwhatordershouldtheygoin?
Therulesforadjectiveorderarenotfixed(nosurprise!)asindividualchoicesare
alwayspossible;buttherearesomecombinationswhichalmostneveroccur.
OrderofAdjectives
Youmightfindthislistusefulindecidingtheorderofadjectives:
1.Ordinalnumber(first,second,last)
2.Cardinalnumber(one,two,three)
3.Generaljudgementorfirstimpression(good,beautiful,lovely,nice,new)
4.Generalmentaljudgementoropinion(charming,intelligent,fascinating,rich)
5.Measurement(tall,small,big)
6.Ageortemperature(old,young,ancient,hot,cold)
7.Shape(round,square)
8.Colour(red,green)
9.Verbparticipletodescribeastate(carved,boiling)
10.Material(wooden,plastic)
11.Originornationality(English,American,Spanish)
12.Nounusedasanadjective(bicycle,18thcentury)
Sointhefirstexampleabovethemostlikelyorderis:
Ihavejustboughtabeautiful(3)old(6)handpainted(9)Japanese(11)print.
Sometimes,ofcourse,theorderdependsonwhetheryouwishtoemphasiseaparticular
thing.Compare,forexample:
AbeautifultallEgyptianwomanenteredtheroom.
AtallbeautifulEgyptianwomanenteredtheroom.
Eachsentenceemphasisesadifferentgeneraljudgmentaboutthewomanthroughthe
orderofadjectives.However,thepositionof'Egyptian'doesnotchange.
Also,wemightchangetheordertomakeitclearthatwearetalkingaboutacertaintype
ofthing.Forexample,'aFrenchwhitewine'insteadof'awhiteFrenchwine'.
Testyourself
Puttheadjectivesinbracketsinthebestorderusingtheguidelinesabove.
1.Shehadadresson.(green,summer,bright,cotton)
2.Ienjoyfood.(Indian,spicy,hot)
3.Shelivesinahouse.(country,old,lovely,Englishstyle)
4.Haveyoudonethequestionsyet?(four,first)
5.He'sboughtacar.(new,sports,German,superb,yellow)
6.Thegameisplayedwithasetofballs.(metal,grooved,round,three)
Note:commasarenotneededinadjectivelistsunlessyouwishtoseparatetheitemsfor
emphasisorclarity,orwhentheycomeafterthenoun:
Shewasalittle,intelligentcat.
ThewalletIlostwasold,brownandleatherbound.
WORD ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
When more than one adjective is used in front of a noun, the usual
order is as follows:
qualitative adjective + colour adjective + classifying adjective.
a little white wooden house
rapid technological advance
a large circular pool of water
a necklace of blue Venetian beads
However, non-gradable adjectives indicating shape, such as "circular"
and "rectangular", often come in front of colour adjectives, even
though they are classifying adjectives:
the rectangular grey stones
the circular yellow patch on the lawn
The beautiful, intelligent girl fell in love with the nice tall young
man. (7,8/5,6,9)
There was a round red mark on the carved wooden cupboard.
(10,11/12,13)
He bought him a lovely Italian silk tie. (5,14,15)