We can use more than one adjective before a noun. There is usually one correct order.
e.g. 1. It’s beautiful sunny weather. 2. John has a big brown dog.
We order adjectives according to their meaning. Word order 1. Opinion 2. Size 3. other qualities 4. Age 5. Colour 6. Origin 7. Material 8. Type 9. Purpose
GroupExamples 1.Opinion (how good?)wonderful, nice, great, terrible… 2.Size (how big?)small, large, long, tall, short… 3.Most other qualitiesquiet, famous, important, soft, fast, warm….
GroupExamples 4.Age (how old?)old, new 5.Colourgreen, red, brown… 6.Origin (where from?)China, England….
GroupExamples 7.Material (made of?)paper, wood, plastic… 8.Type (what kind?)an electric kettle, road transport… 9.Purpose (where for?)a face towel, a bread knife….
Some examples: 1. It is a big black cat. size colour 2. I bought some nice plastic souvenirs. opinion material
Some examples: 3. He has old brown shoes. age colour 4. It is a wonderful new face cream. opinion age purpose
Some examples: 5. I had a long boring boat journey. size quality 6. It is a beautiful wooden picture frame. opinion material purpose type
Exercise: 1. (boots) They’re leather. They’re small. ____________________________________ They’re small leather boots.
Exercise: 2. (car) It’s big. It’s yellow. _______________________________ It’s a big yellow car.
Exercise: 3. (a vase) It’s glass. It’s lovely. It’s new. ___________________________________________ It’s a lovely new glass vase.
Exercise: 4. (a table) small / coffee / plastic ________________________________________ It’s a small plastic coffee table.
Exercise: 5. (seat) wooden / expensive / garden It’s an________________________ expensive wooden garden seat.
Exercise: 6. This game is new. It’s for the family. And it’s exciting. This is an_____________________ _____________________________ exciting new family game.
Exercise: 7. This is a chocolate bar. It’s new. And it’s a big bar. This is a_____________________ _______________________ big new chocolate bar.
Exercise: 8. This phone is mobile. It’s Chinese. And it’s very good. This is a_____________________ _______________________ very good Chinese mobile phone. ---THE END---