19 July 2012

XXVIII - GRAMMAR Adjectives order


Adjectives order:

When we use two or more adjectives together to describe a noun, the order we put them in is quite important. For example, we don't usually say an old Indian beautiful carpet. It sounds much better say a beautiful old Indian carpet.

As a general rule, adjectives are usually placed in this order:

opinion > size > quality > age > shape > colour > participle forms > origin > material type > purpose

The phrase a beautiful old Indian carpet follows these guidelines:


1
4
8


quality
age
origin
noun
a
beautiful
old
Indian
carpet

You don't have to include an example of every type of adjective, but the ones you do use should follow the order. So if you wanted to add red and green to the phrase a beautiful old Indian carpet, you would put it between oldand Indian like this:


1
4
6
8


opinion
age
colour
origin
noun
a
beautiful
old
red and green
Indian
carpet

It sometimes helps to remember the order of adjective if you consider that adjectives whose meaning is closely, or permanently, connected to the noun are placed nearer to it in the sentence. So in this phrase: a large comfortable wooden chair – wooden has a very close connection withchair.


2
3
10


size
quality
material type
noun
a
large
comfortable
wooden
chair

Here are some more examples:


3
7


quality
participle
noun
a
new
improved
recipe



1
3
10


opinion
quality
type
noun
an
old-fashioned
romantic
candle-lit
dinner for two

Sometimes we can use but between adjectives, especially if their meanings seem contradictory.


2

3


size

quality
noun
a
small
but
tasty
meal

If we use 2 adjectives that are similar in meaning, we usually put the shorter one first: a soft, comfortable cushion.

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