Adjective Order: putting modifiers in natural sounding word order

A pretty, little, purple-
and-pink paisley pussycat

Adjective Order

Putting adjectives in a natural sounding word order

Adjectives are normally placed before a noun in the following order:

While the ordering of adjectives may vary slightly, the order indicated below is commonly used. Word order used in a number of sources, such as friends, coworkers, commercials, songs, and the media influence our sentence patterns. Additionally, the ability to recall and retrieve words in the description of a stored visual image may affect word order.

More word order variation tends to occur with the first three categories (i.e., Opinion, Appearance, Age) than the last two (i.e., Color, Origin). When in doubt, ask a native speaker, who will most likely have a strong opinion about what sounds natural. This chart is offered to you as a guide. The categories are not "written in stone".

EVALUATION/OPINION	APPEARANCE	AGE	COLOR	ORIGIN
beautiful	SIZE / MEASURE	new-born	red	GEOGRAPHICAL
good	big / large	old	green	French
bad	small / little	young	blue	Mexican
ugly	low	new	light-yellow	beach
interesting	high	antique	striped	mountain
fascinating	heavy	ancient	dark blue	MATERIAL
intelligent	SHAPE	five-year-old	deep purple	ceramic
pretty	triangular	brand-new	pink	cotton
unsightly	square	five-day-old	brown	wooden
foul	CONDITION	century-old	rose	titanium
stupid	chipped	mature	olive	TECHNOLOGICAL
silly	broken	middle-age	aqua	wireless
ridiculous	rotten	teenage	lime	high-def inti ion
easy	shiny	prehistoric	polka-dot	3-D

Using hyphens: color terms

banana plaid seatcover dragon costume poodle mobius ipad Olodum pocket knife rolling pin bowling ball

Sentence Examples (Word order may vary!)

SENTENCE	EVAL	APPEARANCE / QUALITY	AGE	COLOR	ORIGIN/ MATERIAL	*TYPE / FUNCTION	NOUN + REST OF SENTENCE
Who left a	foul,	rotten,	two-week-old				banana in my desk drawer?
We bought a	practical,	little,		black-and-white plaid,	polyester		seat cover.
They wore a	beautiful,	life-size,		red-and-yellow	feathered, Chinese-dragon		costume.
The artist created a	fantastic,	huge, mobius-shaped,		shiny,	stainless-steel		sculpture.
The	intelligent,	little,	young,	black,	French		poodle stood quietly.
This is my	sleek,		new,	black,	3-D		iPad.
"Olodum" is known for its	powerful,	hypnotic, energetic,			Samba-reggae		rhythms and performance.
Where is my	trusty,			red,	(Swiss?)	Swiss Army, multi-purpose (utility, hunting, explorer)	knife?
I used the	traditional,		old,		Dutch / wooden	rolling	pin.
She used a	silly,	little,		pink,		girls', "Hello Kitty", bowling	ball to win the tournament.

Speakers rarely use more than three or four adjectives before a noun unless they are trying to be very descriptive.
*Mostly nominal modiers Nouns as Modifiers, or as -ing modifiers Ongoing Process v. Function ; May be stated as a post-nominal prep. phrase (for hunting, for girls); (by Sanrio ©, by Swiss Army © )

Variations

Usually, the word order in the "appearance" category is size, shape, condition, but other variations occur as well.

APPEARANCE:	(SIZE)	(SHAPE)	(CONDITION)	NOUN PHRASE
A cute	short	round	out-of -breath	man sat breathing heavily on the park bench.
A cute	short	out-of -condition	round	man sat breathing heavily on the park bench.
A cute	out-of -condition	short	round	man sat breathing heavily on the park bench.

Grammar Notes

Various Descriptions

FRANK / BIBER	HUDDLESTON & PULLUM
FRANK: Sequence of adjectives before nouns: Determiners \| General Descripton \| Physical State \| Proper Adjective \| Noun Adjuncts \| Noun Janes' daringly-cut, gold-lamé, Parisian, evening gown — Marcella Frank, Modern English, Parts of Speech I, 1972. BIBER (CoGEL 512) Includes the most common attibutive adjectives across registers: Descriptors: size/amount (big, small, great); time (new, old, young); color (balck, white, red); evaluative (good, best, right); relational (same, whole, general); topical (political, public) Ordering not stated. Do you know of other sources?	HUDDLESTON (CaGel 452-5) Residual pre-head modifiers: Evaluative > General property > Age > Colour > Provenance > Manufacture > Type an attractive, tight-fitting, brand-new, pink, Italian, lycra, women's swimsuit — Evaluative: wonderful, annoying, ghastly, excellent, tasty, etc. General property: size (big, small) dimension (long, tall) sound (loud, faint) touch (rough, smooth) taste (sweet, bitter) others: foul, chilling, ear-splitting, mind-numbing, etc. Age: old, new, young, ancient, modern Colour: red, blue, rose, tangerine, sick-yellow Provenance: French, Greek, Indonesian, Asian, South African Manufacture: cotton, iron, polyester Mode: carved, boiled, hand-made Type (nominals): photo album, dessert spoon, passenger aircraft, children's diseases

FRANK / BIBER

HUDDLESTON & PULLUM

BIBER (CoGEL 512)
Includes the most common attibutive adjectives across registers:
Descriptors: size/amount (big, small, great); time (new, old, young); color (balck, white, red); evaluative (good, best, right); relational (same, whole, general); topical (political, public)
Ordering not stated.

Do you know of other sources?

HUDDLESTON (CaGel 452-5)
Residual pre-head modifiers:
Evaluative > General property > Age > Colour > Provenance > Manufacture > Type
an attractive, tight-fitting, brand-new, pink, Italian, lycra, women's swimsuit —

Evaluative: wonderful, annoying, ghastly, excellent, tasty, etc.
General property: size (big, small) dimension (long, tall) sound (loud, faint) touch (rough, smooth) taste (sweet, bitter) others: foul, chilling, ear-splitting, mind-numbing, etc.
Age: old, new, young, ancient, modern
Colour: red, blue, rose, tangerine, sick-yellow
Provenance: French, Greek, Indonesian, Asian, South African
Manufacture: cotton, iron, polyester Mode: carved, boiled, hand-made
Type (nominals): photo album, dessert spoon, passenger aircraft, children's diseases

Practice 1

Describing in detail

Put the adjectives in a natural sounding word order.

Select the response from the menu that best completes the sentence.
Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.

#	YOUR RESPONSE	FEEDBACK
1.	An gopher complained about a misdirected golf ball.
2.	A(n) sports car was parked in front of the restaurant.
3.	A barber pole was next to the front door of the barber shop.
4.	A boy was chopping wood in the backyard.
5.	She wore her pumps. "pump" style shoe
6.	Where is my bag? down (n.) – small, fine, duck feathers Alpine (adj.) – of the Alps mountains (style)
7.	We put a(n) tree in the corner of their office.
8.	My uncle bought a TV.
9.	She offered me tea in a cup.
10.	The elf lived in a house in the forest.

Practice 2

In sickness and in health

Intermediate – Advanced Level

Read for errors

Selecting a dog requires careful thought. Are you willing to make a ten to fifteen year commitment — in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer?

First, how old are the members of your family? A toy-sized, little, active, dog under fifteen pounds is not suitable If you have a child younger than seven. Puppies have little, ultra-sharp, pointed teeth and will teethe (chew) on anything, including your child. Getting a puppy could result in accidental injury and a lasting fear of dogs.

Toy dogs are small-boned, touch-sensitive, high-maintenance pets. They do not do well in a noisy, big, confusing environment. They "break" easily and are quicker to bite than larger-boned dogs. Unless your children are unusually sensitive, low-key, respectful individuals, a medium to large dog over five-months-old is a safer choice.

Who will be the dog's primary caretaker? If you say "Mom", think again. In the past, a mom was a work-all-day, stay-at-home, busy, miracle worker. But now she may be an eight-to-six, high-level, busy executive.

Of course, the kids will promise to be hard-working, thoughtful, good caretakers. However, as soon as the job is inconvenient, the dog will be left alone and in need.

One parent should be the primary caretaker with a view to a ten to fifteen year life span. In that time, the children will grow up, the family may move, and the parents may even divorce. And it is not fair to the dog to leave it when it is weak, old, dependent, and in need of love and care.

If you can only make a short-term commitment, then consider adopting an older, stable, medium-sized dog from a shelter. Or offer to take care of friends' dogs while they are away. Above all, think carefully and make a rational not an emotional decision before adopting a dog.

In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer – words spoken in a marriage vow
commitment – promise to do something
environment – the people and things that are around you in your life

Put the modifiers in a more natural sounding word order.

Note that word order may vary depending on: (1) the the speaker's intent (emphasis or normal); (2) the speaker's dialect; (3) the weighting of the adjectives in a series (placing longer adjectives towards the end).

Edit the text in the box.
Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.

#	YOUR RESPONSE	CHECK ANSWERS
11.	First, how old are the members of your family? A toy-sized, little, active, dog under fifteen pounds is not suitable If you have a child younger than seven. suitable (adj.) – having the right qualities for a particular person, purpose, or situation EDIT A toy-sized, little, active, dog under fifteen pounds is not suitable If you have a child younger than seven.
12.	Puppies have little, ultra-sharp, pointed teeth and will teethe (chew) on anything, including your child. EDIT Puppies have little, ultra-sharp "milk teeth" and will teethe (chew) on anything, including your child.
13.	Toy dogs are small-boned, touch-sensitive, high-maintenance pets. toy dog – a very small breed of dog under 12 pounds high-maintenance – requiring extra care EDIT Toy dogs are small-boned, touch-sensitive, high-maintenance pets.
14.	They do not do well in a noisy, big, confusing environment. EDIT They do not do well in a noisy, big, confusing environment.
15.	They "break" easily and are quicker to bite than larger-boned dogs. Unless your children are unusually sensitive, low-key, respectful individuals, a medium to large dog over five-months-old is a safer choice. EDIT Unless your children are unusually sensitive, low-key, respectful individuals, a medium to large dog over five-months-old is a safer choice.
16.	In the past, a mom was a work-all-day, stay-at-home, busy, miracle worker. EDIT In the past, a mom was a work-all-day, stay-at-home, busy, miracle worker.
17.	But now she may be an eight-to-six, high-level, busy executive. EDIT But now she may be a eight-to-six, high-level, busy executive.
18.	Of course, the kids will promise to be hard-working, thoughtful, good, caretakers. However, as soon as the job is inconvenient, the dog will be left alone and in need. caretaker – a person who looks after something, someone or a pet EDIT Of course, the kids will promise to be hard-working, thoughtful, good, caretakers.
19.	And it is not fair to the dog to leave it when it is weak, old, dependent, and in need of love and care. EDIT And it is not fair to the dog to leave it when it is weak, old, dependent, and in need of love and care.
20.	If you can only make a short-term commitment, then consider adopting a stable, older, medium-sized dog from a rescue shelter. EDIT : If you can only make a short-term commitment, then consider adopting a stable, older, medium-sized dog from a rescue shelter.

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