ELC Study Zone: Adjective Order
Introduction
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.
1. The basic types of adjectives
| Opinion | An opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with you). For example: silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult |
|---|---|
| Size | A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is. For example: large, tiny, enormous, little |
| Age | An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is. For example: ancient, new, young, old |
| Shape | A shape adjective describes the shape of something. For example: square, round, flat, rectangular |
| Colour | A colour adjective, of course, describes the colour of something. For example: blue, pink, reddish, grey |
| Origin | An origin adjective describes where something comes from. For example: French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek |
| Material | A material adjective describes what something is made from. For example: wooden, metal, cotton, paper |
| Purpose | A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with “-ing”. For example: sleeping (as in “sleeping bag”), roasting (as in “roasting tin”) |
2. 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 |
When you are sure that you understand the lesson, you can continue with the exercises.