Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Multiple Adjectives

In English, when we use multiple adjectives to describe a noun, they usually follow a specific order. If the adjectives are not in the right order, the sentence becomes confusing or difficult to understand.

The Standard Adjective Order

Adjectives generally follow this sequence:

1. Opinion – what you think about something (e.g., stylish, cozy, funny, scary)
2. Size – how big or small it is (e.g., little, huge)
3. Age – how old it is (e.g., old, modern)
4. Shape – the form of something (e.g., round, square)
5. Color – what color it is (e.g., black, dark)
6. Origin – where it comes from (e.g., Spanish, American)
7. Material – what it’s made of (e.g., leather, stone, metal)
8. Purpose – what it’s used for (e.g., running shoes, sleeping bag)

Formula:
Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Color → Origin → Material → Purpose + Noun


Let’s take an example:

🚫 A wooden small beautiful old jewelry box ❌

What’s wrong here?

  1. Opinion ("beautiful") should come first, but it's placed after "small."
  2. Size ("small") should come before age, but it’s after "wooden."
  3. Material ("wooden") should be near the end, but it appears too early.

Now, in the correct order:

✅ A beautiful small old wooden jewelry box


Let’s look at how adjectives should be ordered for different objects:

Shoes

We have the adjectives: stylish, black, Spanish, leather

  • Stylish (opinion)
  • Black (color)
  • Spanish (origin)
  • Leather (material)

✅ Stylish black Spanish leather shoes

Cottage

We have the adjectives: cozy, little, stone

  • Cozy (opinion)
  • Little (size)
  • Stone (material)

✅ A cozy little stone cottage

Cartoon

We have the adjectives: funny, old, American

  • Funny (opinion)
  • Old (age)
  • American (origin)

✅ A funny old American cartoon

Gate

We have the adjectives: huge, scary, dark, metal

  • Scary (opinion)
  • Huge (size)
  • Dark (color)
  • Metal (material)

✅ A scary huge dark metal gate

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