ADJECTIVE WORD ORDER: Rules in Arranging Adjectives & Examples

ADJECTIVE WORD ORDER: The Correct Way Of Arranging Adjectives Orderly With Examples

ADJECTIVE WORD ORDER – In this topic, we will discuss the correct way of arranging multiple adjectives with some examples.

Previously on our lesson about adjectives, we have tackled the 5 kinds of adjectives : descriptive, demonstrative, interrogative, possessive, and numerical.

On our further knowledge about adjectives, this topic will tackle the correct order of arranging adjectives. This occurs when you want to describe a word using more than one adjective.

ADJECTIVE WORD ORDER

I would, however, recommend not to put as many adjectives as possible as three is already enough.

Here is the correct order of arranging adjective with examples. Note that the list is not in any order:

  1. Determiners – an, the, my, your, etc.
  2. Observations – lonely, pretty, gorgeous, etc.
  3. Size – big, large, tiny, etc.
  4. Shape – spherical, square, triangular, etc.
  5. Age – young, new, ancient, etc.
  6. Color – yellow, magenta, green, etc.
  7. Origin – Indian, Spanish, Mexican, etc.
  8. Material/Texture – concrete, icy, silk, etc.
  9. Qualifier – words or phrases that changes how absolute, certain or generalized a statement is.

Example:

“The pretty young woman is sitting behind my back.”

Note that I’m using 2 adjectives to describe the word “woman”: pretty and young. Pretty falls in the “Observation” category, which comes after Young, which falls in the “Age” category. Thus, they are in the correct order.

Here are some other examples:

  • The quick, yellow mouse has a lightning shaped tail.
  • I am carrying this huge, brown, wooden crate.
  • I have recently found a small, ancient key.
  • The students say they like their funny, huge, Spanish teacher.
  • Ben wants to own a vintage, black car.

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