ADJECTIVE ORDER

and other words that come before nouns

Created by Robert Eastland

Article, Possessive, Quantifier, Number, or Demonstrative First!

a/an the my their some many any this those etc.

Number after article (or in place of)

Three (e.g., The three students at the front of the class were early.) First (e.g., The one thing I learned was how to smile.) Many- used with plurals (e.g., There are many mountains in Canada.)

Some- usually used with uncountable nouns (e.g., I would like some water.)

First Orders
Possessive OR article- a/n, the first, next and last (previous) numbers-one, two, three, etc. The first three days His last two jobs My next holiday

Next-Opinions before Facts!

'OPINION' ADJECTIVES Adjectives like beautiful and nice are opinion adjectives. They tell us what you think about somebody or something. 'FACT' ADJECTIVES Adjectives like new, large, and blue are fact adjectives. They give us factual information about age, size, and color.

Examples of opinion before fact:

- an interesting (opinion) old (fact) book - some refreshing (o) cool (f ) water - A nice (o) Spanish (f) guitar - A delicious (o) chocolate (f) cake - a pair of classy (o) leather (f) shoes - A beautiful (opinion) small (f) yellow (f) Chinese (f) doll

Fact Adjectives (there are many, many

categories here are some of them):
SIZE: How big? Large, small, tiny, enormous AGE: How old? New, young, old, ancient SHAPE: What shape? Square, round, rectangular, flat COLOUR: What color? Blue, pink, yellow, green ORIGIN: Where from? Thai, Canadian, American, Chinese MATERIAL: What it is made of? Plastic, metal, glass, wooden PURPOSE : What it is used for? Racing car, frying pan, sleeping bag

Adjective Order (examples):

a wonderful old Italian clock (opinion - age - origin) two big square blue boxes (dimension shape - color) fresh blue cotton sheets (opinion - color material) a pair of slim new French pants (dimension - age - origin)

Although there are exceptions, adjectives of size and shape often come first. The round glass table (NOT the glass round table) A big, modern brick house (NOT a modern, big brick house) A pair of Long steel poles A tall, ancient oak tree

Adjectives of color, origin, material and purpose usually go in that order.

Color origin material purpose noun red Spanish leather riding boots brown German beer mug Venetian glass flower vase

Too Much to Remember?

Probably, but practice will help Try not to use too many adjectives at once! If you cant remember, use a chart!