Order of Adjectives: Explanation + Exercises

In English, it is common to use more than one adjective before a noun. For example, “My brother lives in a nice new house,” or “In the kitchen there was a beautiful large round wooden table.”

When you use more than one adjective, you have to put them in the right order, according to type. This page will explain the different types of adjectives and the correct order of adjectives.

Adjectives are normally placed before a noun in the following order:

1. Determiner – the nice dress

                          a big car; an old book

                          my red socks; your round face, etc

                          some delicious apples; several young girls; many, any, etc

                          one fine day; two large dogs; etc.

                          the first, second, third etc.

                          this straw hat; that broken toy; these, those

2. Opinion – an expensive antique mirror; a delicious hot soup

3. Fact –

               (a) Physical Description:

                     size and length – a big English sheepdog; a handsome tall young man

                     shape and width – a large round table; a long narrow street

                     age – her big old dog; my beautiful new desk

                     colour – a small black bag; an old white shirt

                                    When there are two or more colour adjectives, we use and:

                                    a black and white dress; a red, white and green flag

                                    There are also some established conventions in order of colour

                                    adjectives, such as black and white, (not white and black); red

                                    white and blue.

               (b) Origin – an old Russian song; the latest American film

               (c) Material – a large wooden table; an expensive oval antique silver mirror

               (d) Qualifier – a beautiful old Italian touring car; several young American

                                      basketball players

While the order of adjectives may vary slightly, the order indicated above is commonly used. These categories are offered as a guide. They are not “written in stone”.

Source: google.com via Kendall