FORM AND FUNCTION OF ADJECTIVES

ORDER

Where a number of adjectives are used together, the order depends on the function
of the adjective. The usual order is:

Value/opinion, Size, Age/Temperature, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material

Value/opinion delicious, lovely, charming

Size small, huge, tiny

Age/Temperature old, hot, young
Shape round, square, rectangular
Colour red, blonde, black
Origin Swedish, Victorian, Chinese
Material plastic, wooden, silver

OPINION APPEARANCE AGE COLOR ORIGIN MATERIAL

good usually follows new red Korean iron
bad this order: antique purple Chinese brass
beautiful old pink French cotton
ugly size/measure young dark Italian gold
smart big two- green American wooden
dumb small year- navy vegetable
high old* blue
low

shape
round
circular
square

condition
broken
cracked
ripped
fresh
rotten

1. Determiner or article

Determiners e.g. this, that, these, those, my, mine, your, yours, him, his, her, hers, they,
their, Sam's ; or

Articles - a, an, the

 2. Opinion adjective
e.g. polite, fun, cute, difficult, hard-working

3. Size, including adjectives, comparatives and superlatives

4. height; e.g. tall, short, high, low; taller, tallest
5. width; e.g. wide, narrow, thin, slim; wider, widest
6. length; e.g. long, short; longer, longest
7. volume; e.g. fat, huge; fatter, fattest

8. Shape
e.g. circular, oval, triangular, square, 5-sided, hexagonal, irregular

9. Age
e.g. new, young, adolescent, teenage, middle-aged, old, ancient

10. Colour
e.g. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, grey, black, black and white,
light blue, dark red, pale blue, reddish brown, off-white, bright green, warm
yellow

11. Nationality
e.g. Hong Kong, Chinese, English, American, Canadian, Japanese

12. Religion
e.g. Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Moslem, pagan, atheist

13. Material
e.g. wood, plastic, metal, ceramic, paper, silk

14. Noun used as an adjective

e.g. campus (as in 'campus activities')

15. The noun that the adjectives are describing.

Adjectives always go before nouns in English. We use the following rules to put English adjectives in
order:

1. Numbers - one, two, first

2. Opinion/judgement - clever, beautiful, funny, lazy
3. Size/appearance/length - big, tall,short, long
4. Weight - slim, fat, skinny
5. Age - young, new, old
6. Temperature - hot, cold, warm
7. Humidity - wet, dry
8. Shape - round, square, pointed
9. Colour - white, pink, blue
10. Nationality or origin - British, Sudanese, Egyptian
11. Material - synthetic, cotton, metal, paper
12. Purpose & defining adjectives - engagement ring, shopping trolley, gardening gloves, sunny day