The order of adjectives
How to not sound... off when describing nouns in English.
| order | relating to | examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | opinion | unusual, lovely, beautiful |
| 2 | size | big, small, tiny, huge |
| 3 | physical quality | thin, rough, untidy |
| 4 | shape | round, square, rectangular |
| 5 | age | young, old, new |
| 6 | colour | red, white, orange |
| 7 | origin | Bosnian, Dutch, German |
| 8 | material | plastic, metal, wooden |
| 9 | type | general-purpose, four-sided, u-shaped |
| 10 | purpose | cleaning, cooking, baking, drinking |
Examples
- amazing(1) red(6) coat
- beautiful(1), tall(2), thin(3), young(5), black-haired(6) Dutch(7) woman
- handsome(1) young(5) man
- big(2) black(6) American(7) car
Do you need a comma?
Just use your guts.
- More than three adjectives? Good idea.
- Two adjectives of the same type? Use "and" (example: black and yellow)
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