The Order of Adjectives

Order of Adjectives! When you are going to use a number of

different adjectives to describe a noun it is important to be able to
put the adjectives in the correct order. The reason for this is that
when placed in the wrong order, numerous adjectives can sound
misplaced, uneven and somewhat cacophonous.
In this section, we will be looking at the best way to order your
adjectives which will not only allow your sentences to flow much
more easily but will also give you the impression of being a native
English speaker.
In English, it is common to use more than one adjective before a noun. For example, “It is a beautiful long new dress.” or
“She has bought a square white Japanese cake.” When you use more than one adjective, you have to put them in the right
order – order of adjectives.
Learn how to put adjectives in the right order with useful grammar rules and examples.
In general, the adjective order in English is:
Determiner
Words that work as articles and other limiters including numbers.
Example: a, an, the, both, either, some, many, my, your, our, their, his, her, five, each, every, this, that…
Observation
(Opinion)
In general, an opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with you).
Example: good, bad, great, terrible, pretty, lovely, silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult, comfortable/uncomfortable, ugly, awful,
strange, delicious, disgusting, tasty, nasty, important, excellent, wonderful, brilliant, funny, interesting, boring.
Size and Shape
Adjectives that describe a factual or objective quality of the noun.
•A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is.
Example: huge, big, large, tiny, enormous, little, tall, long, gigantic, small, short, minuscule. 
•A shape adjective describes the shape of something.
Example: triangular, square, round, flat, rectangular.
Age
An age adjective (adjective denoting age) tells you how young or old something or someone is.
Example: young, old, new, ancient, six-year-old, antique, youthful, mature, modern, old-fashioned,
recent…
Color
A color adjective (adjective denoting color), of course, describes the color of something.
Example: red, black, pale, bright, faded, shining, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, pink, aquamarine…
Origin
Denominal adjectives denoting source of noun.
An origin adjective describes where something comes from.
Example: French, American, Canadian, Mexican, Greek, Swiss, Spanish, Victorian, Martian…
Material
Denominal adjectives denoting what something is made of.
Example: woollen, wooden, silk, metal, paper, gold, silver, copper, cotton, leather, polyester, nylon, stone, diamond, plastic…
Qualifier
(Purpose)
Final limiter, often regarded as part of the noun.
A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with “-ing”.
Example: writing (as in “writing paper”), sleeping (as in “sleeping bag”), roasting (as in “roasting tin”), running (as in “running
shoes”).
The basic adjective order
There is a set order of adjectives.
Although you might think you use them instinctively as a native speaker, learning how to place
them in the correct order will help you write much better. There are nine possible forms, but you
would rarely use more than three or four.
However, they must always be in the correct sequence.
Here are some examples in the order of adjectives table below.
If you say four delightful large British knives, you are using number, opinion, size an origin in the
correct adjective order.
Arrange the adjectives in the right order according to the table above.

1. There was ________________________ outside the house.

(a dog, black, terrifying, huge)

2. I gave her ________________________ for her birthday.

(some handkerchiefs, beautiful, white, cotton)

3. There was ________________________ hanging on the wall.

(a picture, old, wonderful, Impressionist)

4. Have you seen ________________________ lying on the floor?

(a pair of gloves, brown, leather)

5. She was wearing ________________________ .

(a sweater, winter, woolen)

6. There is ________________________ in this town.

(a church, Gothic, very old)

7. My mother bought ________________________for the picnic.

(several plates, plastic, blue, small)
Which is the usual order of adjectives?

1. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

He is just an old silly man.
He is just a silly old man.

2. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

She bought a new powerful computer.
She bought a powerful new computer.

3. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

They have just moved into a modern big house.
They have just moved into a big modern house.

4. Which is the usual order of adjectives?

Last night I watched an interesting German film.
Last night I watched a German interesting film.
1. He was wearing a ________ shirt.
dirty old flannel
flannel old dirty
old dirty flannel

2. Pass me the ________ cups.

plastic big blue
big blue plastic
big plastic blue

3. All the girls fell in love with the ________ teacher.

handsome new American
American new handsome
new handsome American

4. I used to drive ________ car.

a blue old German
an old German blue
an old blue German

5. He recently married a ________ woman.

young beautiful Greek
beautiful young Greek
beautiful Greek young