ADJECTIVE ORDER

- When two or more adjectives come before a noun, there is usually a fairly fixed
order.
beautiful golden sands a nice new blue coat
- The order depends mainly on the meaning. Look at these groups of adjectives and
other modifiers.
Opinion: nice, wonderful, excellent, lovely, terrible, awful, etc
Size: large, small, long, short, tall, etc
Quality: clear, busy, famous, important, quiet, etc
Age: old, new
Shape: round, square, fat, thin, wide, narrow, etc
Colour: red, white, blue, green, etc
Participle forms: covered, furnished, broken, running, missing, etc
Origin: British, Italian, American, etc
Material: brick, paper, plastic, wooden, etc
Type: human, chemical, domestic, electronic, etc
Purpose: alarm (clock), tennis (court), walking (boots), etc
- Words from these groups usually come in this order:
opinion + size + quality + age + shape + colour + participle forms + origin
+material + type + purpose
- Here are some examples
an old cardboard box (age + material)
a German industrial company (origin + type)
a hard wooden seat (quality + material)
a new improved formula (age + participle form)
increasing financial difficulties (participle form + type)
two excellent public tennis courts (opinion + type + purpose)
*NOTE:
A. These rules are not absolute. The order can sometimes be different. We sometimes prefer to
put a short adjective before a long one.
a big horrible building
B. In general, the adjective closest to the noun has the closest link in meaning with the noun and
expresses what is most permanent about it. For example, in the phrase two excellent public
tennis courts, the word tennis is closely linked to courts, whereas excellent is not linked so
closely. The fact that the courts are for tennis is permanent, but their excellence is a matter of
opinion.
C. When two adjectives have similar meanings, the shorter one often comes first.
a bright, cheerful smile a soft, comfortable chair
Sometimes two different orders are both possible.
a peaceful, happy place/a happy, peaceful place

References
Eastwood, J. (1994). Oxford guide to English Grammar (Vol. 202). Walton Street,
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

COMPOUND SENTENCE

- A compound sentence is two or more independent clauses joined together.

- There are three ways to join the clauses:
1. Compound Sentences with Coordinators
A compound sentence can be formed as follows:

Independent clause, + coordinator + independent clause

Example: Salt water boils at a lower temperature than freshwater, so food cooks
faster in salt water.
NOTE: There are seven coordinators, which are also called coordinating
conjunctions. You can remember them by the phrase FAN BOYS (For, And, Nor,
But, Or, Yet, So). The following sentences illustrate the meanings of the seven
FAN BOYS coordinators.
(Punctuation note: There is a comma after the first independent clause.)
 To add a reason

for Japanese people live longer than most nationalities, for they eat healthful diets.

To add a similar, equal idea

and They eat a lot of fish and vagetables, and they eat lightly.

To add a negative equal idea

nor They do not eat a lot of red meat, nor do they eat many dairy products.

To add an opposite idea

but Diet is one factor in how long people live, but it is not the only factor.

To add an alternative possibility

However, people should limit the amount of animal fat in their diets, or they risk
or
getting heart disease.

To add an unexpected or surprising continuation

Smoking is a factor in longevity, yet Japanese and other long-lived Asians have a
yet
very high rate of tobacco use.

To add an expected result

Doctors say that stress is another longevity factor, so try to advoid stress if you
so
wish to live a longer life.
2. Compound Sentences with Conjunctive Adverbs
A second way to form a compound sentence is as follows:

Independent clause; + conjunctive adverb, + independent clause

Example: Salt water boils at a higher temperature than freshwater; therefore,

food cooks faster in salt water.
Punctuation note: Put a semicolon before and a comma after the conjunctive
adverb.
The following chart lists common conjunctive adverbs and a few transition
signals that can be used in this way:

Also
Besides
Furthermore
In addition To add a similar, equal idea
Moreover
As well
Too

However
Nevertheless To add an unexpected or surprising continuation
Nonetheless
Still

On the other hand To add a complete contrast

In contrast

To give an alternative possibility

Otherwise
 Accordingly
As a result
Consequently To add an expected result
Hence
Therefore
Thus

For example To add an example

For instance

3. Compound Sentences with Semicolons

A third way to form a compound sentence is to connect the two independent
clauses with a semicolon alone:
Example: Poland was the first Eastern European country to turn away from
communism; others soon followed.
This kind of compound sentence is possible only when the two independent
clauses are closely related in meaning. If they are not closely related, they should
be written as two simple sentences, each ending with a period.
References
Alice Oshima; Ann Hogue. (2006). Writing Academic English. New York, USA:
Longman.