Order of Ajectives

We can use more than one adjective before a noun. We do not usually have a long list of adjectives before a single noun. A noun is usually described by one, two , or three adjectives at the most. e.g. : an expensive Persian silk carpet.

There is usually one correct order.This is the normal order:

  • Opinion (how good?) : wonderful, nice, great, awful, terrible

  • Size (how big?) : large, small, long, short, tall

    Adjectives that say how good and how big come first.

  • Most other qualities : quiet, famous, important, soft, wet, difficult, fast, angry, warm

    Most adjectives come next if they do not belong to another group.

  • Age (how old?) : new, old

  • Colour : red, blue, green, black

  • Origin (where from?) : American, British, French

  • Material (made of?) : stone, plastic, steel, paper

  • Type (what kind?) : an electric kettle, political matters, road transport

  • Purpose (what for?) :a bread knife, a bath towel

    Some of these are nouns.

Here are some examples.

  1. a small green insect (size, colour)

  2. Japanese industrial designers (origin, type)

  3. a wonderful new face cream (opinion, age, purpose)

  4. awful plastic souvenirs (opinion, material)

  5. a long boring train journey (size, quality, type)

  6. some nice easy quiz questions (opinion, quality, purpose)

  7. a beautiful wooden picture frame (opinion, material, purpose)

We sometimes put commas between adjectives in Groups : a horrible, ugly building a busy, lively, exciting city