Adjective Order (types)

Adjective Order

In English, it is common to use more than one adjective before a noun -- for example, "He's a silly young fool," or "she's a smart, energetic woman." 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 for them.

The basic types of adjectives

Opinion	An opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with you). Examples: silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult
Size	A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is. Examples: large, tiny, enormous, little
Age	An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is. Examples: ancient, new, young, old
Shape	A shape adjective describes the shape of something. Examples: square, round, flat, rectangular
Colour	A colour adjective, of course, describes the colour of something. Examples: blue, pink, reddish, grey
Origin	An origin adjective describes where something comes from. Examples: French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek
Material	A material adjective describes what something is made from. Examples: wooden, metal, cotton, paper
Purpose	A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with "-ing". Examples: sleeping (as in "sleeping bag"), roasting (as in "roasting tin")

Some examples of adjective order

	Opinion	Size	Age	Shape	Colour	Origin	Material	Purpose
a	silly		young			English			man
a		huge		round			metal		bowl
a		small			red			sleeping	bag

Position of Adjectives in a sentence

front-position	In 20 years the number of youths arrested for murder has doubled.
end-position	The number of youths arrested for murder has doubled in 20 years.
mid-position	Older People are extremely worried about the high crime rate.

REMEMBER:

1	The order of more than one adjective in a sentences is: manner (Art und Weise) - place - time	The PM spoke well in the House of Commons this morning.
2	Adverbial phrases of place follow immediately verbs of movement.	He drove to the station in a taxi.
3	If there is more than one time reference we usually progress from the particular to the general.	He was born at six o'clock / on Christmas day / in 1867.
4	Adverbs of indefinite time (already, just, now, soon, still, then, ...) generally precede the full verb.	I have already spoken to him.
5	Adverbs of indefinite frequency (always, frequently, generally, hardly, ever, never, occasionally, often, rarely, seldom, sometimes, usually, ...) generally precede the full verb.	When she was still at school Sandra often worked on Saturdays.
6	To put special emphasis on certain facts adverbs of indefinite time or indefinite frequency can also be put at the beginning of a sentence.	Sandra usually worked on Saturdays. (normal position) Sometimes Sandra worked on Fridays, too.