Order of Adjectives

By Matthew, 15 September 2008 - 6:52pm
5
 
 

The natural order of adjectives. This shows that order and gives several methods for dealing with the issue.

Adjectives before a noun in English come in a set order. 

Method 1- The Easiest Way

Choose the most common types of adjectives you like to use from this list: 

opinion colour age brand
number origin material pattern
shape size purpose texture

For most people it will probably be one or all of number, size, shape, colour, purpose and origin. If you like to talk about brands or whatever add that. Keep this list short. Say you choose colour, origin, size and purpose. Cross the rest off this list like we did below (print this page and do the right column).

Order Us You
1 number number
2 opinion opinion
3 size size
4 shape
 shape
5 texture
 texture
6 age
 age
7 colour colour
8 pattern pattern
9 origin origin
10 material
 material
11 brand
 brand
12 purpose purpose

Then make lots of examples with your list, like we have below. Look around you. It helps if you describe your own things or the things you know: 

  size
 colour
 origin
 purpose NOUN
a small green Swedish filing cabinet
the big     drinking glass
our little   Japanese   car
his   white   running shoes
my cousin's long     business trip

And keep doing that until you get it. 

Method 2 - I Have a Pretty Good Memory.

Remember this:

colour! origin! material! purpose!
colour! origin! material! purpose!
colour! origin! material! purpose!
colour! origin! material! purpose! 

colour origin
 material
 purpose
 NOUN
yellow, French,
gold, decorative
 buttons

These four types of adjectives always come in this order.

Any other adjective probably goes first, but to be safe remember the following rules:

  1. size and shape first.
  2. opinions first.
  3. numbers FIRST!
FIRST! colour origin
 material
 purpose
 NOUN
LITTLE,

gold, decorative
 buttons
ROUND,
French,
gold,
buttons
UGLY, yellow,
decorative
 buttons
SEVEN, yellow, French,
gold,
buttons

The obvious problem is if you want to talk about shape, size and opinion. Which comes first? See Method 3.

Method 3 - I Remember What I Had for Dinner on the 7th of August, 1987.

This is the master list! Remember it. 

number opinion
 		size
 		shape
 		texture
 		age
 		colour pattern
 		origin
 		material
 		brand
 		purpose
 		NOUN
seven,
 		ugly, little,
 round,
 smooth,
 old,
 yellow,
 striped,
 French,
gold,
 Dior, decorative
 buttons

However, an example like this NEVER happens. Besides, it is too much to remember on the fly. So, the list can be reduced to something like this for people with good memories:

opinion size shape
 age
 colour
 origin
 material purpose
 NOUN
ugly,
 little,
 round,
 old, yellow,
 French,
 gold,
 decorative
 buttons
Practice!

You can find some good practice exercises at the ELC Study Zone and Better English.

Note:

  1. Incorrect order is not a fatal error, but will show you to be a non-native speaker of English. That means if you get this wrong, you just risk sounding a little unnatural. No big deal.
  2. There is no logic to the order: it's just the way it is. You must just memorise the order. Use the technique that is best for you.
  3. Since there is no rule, then plenty of experience and practice and thousands of examples will get you to the point when it just sounds right.
  4. Sometimes the rules don't hold and they are broken by native speakers.