Order of Adjectives
There
is a conventional order of adjectives when more than one is used to modify
a noun.
| Opinion | Size | Age | Color | Material | Origin | Purpose |
| pretty | little | new | red | leather | Mexican | riding |
| She was wearing pretty little new red leather Mexican riding boots. |
Note:
it is very unusual to use this many adjectives
in a string.
This
is for illustration. Here are some more "normal" illustrations:
| a big red balloon | an old foreign car |
| a sharp hunting knife | a beautiful white horse |
Here
are some adjectives of size:
| big | small | tall | short |
| skinny | fat | tiny | huge |
| medium-sized | miniature | enormous | long |
| short | little | large |
Age:
| old | young | ancient | new-born |
| middle-aged | teen-aged | infant | two-year-old |
| elderly |
Opinion:
| beautiful | ugly | intelligent | stupid |
| dumb | evil | angelic | lazy |
| industrious | nice | bad | good |
Color:
| red | green | blue | yellow |
| white | black | orange | purple |
| pink | pinkish | gray | magenta |
Material:
| leather | wood | brick | steel |
| rubber | linoleum | rattan | mud |
| earthen | aluminum | ceramic | plastic |
| glass | paper | cotton | silk |
| wool | woolen | polyester | linen |
Origin:
| Mexican | Korean | American | Venezuelan | Nigerian |
| Thai | Swedish | U.S. | Filipino | Polish |
| Reminder: | Adjectives that are derived from the names of countries are always capitalized in English |
| hunting | writing | swimming | driving |
| running | listening | riding | walking |
Practice #1 Practice #2 List of Lessons
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