Introduction
Adjectives are determiners that modify or describe a person or a thing.
When we have more than one adjective, we need to place them in a certain way.
Form
Adjectives can appear either before a noun or after a verb.
When adjectives belonging to different groups are in the same sentence, they should be placed in the following order:
Quantity + Value & Opinion + Size + Shape + Age + Colour + Origin + Material
NOTE: If we have two or more adjectives belonging to the same group, we connect them with and.
Example
- I bought one small mouse for my computer.
- You have a lovely big brown dog.
- It was a beautiful warm summer.
- She met a polite 21-year-old Polish guy at the metro station.
- We bought two short red cotton party dresses last week.
- They were playing with three imaginary big round yellow plastic balls.
Use
When we have more than one adjective, we must place them in a specific order.
Summary
It is common to find sentences with more than one adjective. When this is the case, we need to follow a strict order in which we write adjectives, depending on the type of adjective they belong to.
The order is: first quantity, then value and opinion, then size, shape, age, colour, origin and, lastly, material.
For example:
— “My dad bought a rectangular red wooden table.” = We put the adjectives in order while we are writing the sentence: quantity (a) + shape (rectangular) + colour (red) + material (wooden).
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.