Adjective Order
Putting modifiers in a natural sounding word order
A pretty, little, purple-and-pink
paisley pussycat
Adjectives are often placed before a noun in the following order:
| EVALUATION/ OPINION | APPEARANCE/ QUALITY | AGE/ PERIOD | COLOR/ PATTERN | ORIGIN/ MATERIAL | TYPE / FUNCTION |
beautiful |
SIZE / MEASURE |
new-born |
red |
GEOGRAPHICAL |
TYPE |
good |
big / large |
old |
green |
French |
1st class |
bad |
small / little |
young |
blue |
Mexican |
multi-purpose |
ugly |
low |
new |
light-yellow |
beach |
wireless |
interesting |
high |
antique |
striped |
mountain |
HD / 3-D |
fascinating |
heavy |
ancient |
dark blue |
oceanic |
men's |
intelligent |
SHAPE |
five-year-old |
deep purple |
MATERIAL |
FUNCTION |
pretty |
triangular |
brand-new |
pink |
ceramic |
hunting |
unsightly |
square |
five-day-old |
brown |
cotton |
cooking |
foul |
CONDITION |
century-old |
rose |
wooden |
walking |
stupid |
chipped |
mature |
olive |
titanium |
running |
silly |
broken |
middle-age |
aqua |
dancing |
|
ridiculous |
rotten |
teenage |
lime |
front-loading |
|
easy |
shiny |
prehistoric |
polka-dot |
off-road |
Also called pre-nominal modifiers; and pre-head modifiers – the linguistic term for modifiers placed before the head noun in a clause
The adjective word order shown above occurs with a small amount of variation. Preference for particular word order is influenced by friends, community, and the media (news, commercials, songs, and so on). In addition, word order is influenced by the ability to recall and retrieve words when describing a stored visual image.
More word-order variation tends to occur with the first three categories (Opinion, Appearance, Age) than the last three (Color, Origin, Type). When in doubt, ask a native speaker, who will most likely have a strong opinion about what order sounds natural. This chart is offered to you as a guide. The categories are not "written in stone".
Related page: Using hyphens with modifiers
Adjective Order
Sentence Examples
Sentence Examples (Word order may vary!)
| SENT / QUES | EVAL / OPIN | APPEAR / QUAL | AGE / PER | COLOR | ORIGIN | TYPE | NOUN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SENTENCE/ QUESTION | EVALUATION/ OPINION | APPEARANCE/ QUALITY | AGE / PERIOD | COLOR/ PATTERN | ORIGIN / MATERIAL | TYPE / FUNCTION | NOUN / PRONOUN |
Who left this |
foul, |
rotten, |
two-week-old |
|
|
|
banana? |
The artist created a |
fantastic, |
huge, mobius-shaped, |
|
shiny, |
stainless-steel |
sculpture. |
|
They wore a |
beautiful, |
life-size, |
|
red-and-yellow |
feathered, Chinese-dragon |
costume. |
|
Olodum is a |
powerful, |
hypnotic, energetic, |
|
|
Brazilian |
Samba-reggae |
ensemble. |
He wore some |
mod / fab |
|
1960's |
red-flowered/ patterned |
cotton |
bell-bottom/ discotheque |
pants. |
He was an |
intelligent, |
|
young, |
black, |
Portuguese |
water / hunting |
dog. |
This is my |
sleek, |
|
new, |
black, |
|
HD (high definition) |
iPad. |
She chose a |
cute, |
|
|
pink, |
|
girls', Hello Kitty, bowling |
ball. |
Speakers rarely use more than three
or four adjectives before a noun unless they are trying to be very descriptive.
*Nominal modifiers (Noun Modifiers or -ing modifiers) may usually be restated as a prepositional phrase: for hunting, for girls, by Sanrio ©, by Swiss Army © (a post-nominal prep. phrase).
Variations
Appearance
Appearance: size, shape, and condition
| SENTENCE | (SIZE) | (SHAPE) | (CONDITION) | NOUN PHRASE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SENTENCE | SIZE | SHAPE | CONDITION | NOUN |
We picked a |
gigantic |
round |
ripe |
tomato. |
|
ripe (condition) |
large (size) |
heart-shaped (shape) |
|
|
round (shape) |
ripe (condition) |
jumbo (size) |
|
ripe (adj.) – ready to pick and to eat
A person's preference for word order may vary with the use of a synonym (large, big, jumbo, gigantic), or with word length (hyphenated words last).
Post-Nominal Modifiers
Modifiers placed after the noun
These are summaries from other pages in this website.
Function and Type Modifiers
| PRE-POSITION MODIFIER |
|---|
Moidifiers for function or type may be placed before the noun. Function modifiers, mostly occur as -ing verb forms. Type modifiers often occur as past participle modifiers. |
| FUNCTION |
Driving classes begin next week. |
We'll be driving an off-road vehicle. vehicle (n.) – auto, car |
| TYPE |
Sugar cookies are my favorite. |
Whitney bought some laced shoes. (shoes with ties) |
| POST-POSITION MODIFIER |
|---|
Function and type may also be expressed with a prepositional phrase: function – by; type – with + noun. See For + Gerund and By / With |
| NOUN FOR VERB-ING |
Classes for driving begin next week. |
We'll be driving a vehicle for off-road driving. (SUV) |
| NOUN WITH + NOUN |
Cookies with sugar are my favorite. (made with) |
|
Whitney bought some
Type — Maker or Brand Modifiers
| PRE-POSITION MODIFIER |
|---|
A designer, artiist, maker, seller, or brand-name modifier is usually placed before the noun. |
| MAKER |
Nike shoes are very durable. (brand name) |
She prefers to buy Macy's shoes. (department store) |
We bought a Picasso painting. (artist's work of art) |
Mother's pies are delicious. |
| POST-POSITION MODIFIER |
|---|
A maker or brand modifier is also expressed with a by phrase (from when the source is a store) placed after the noun. See By Phrases (passive voice). |
| NOUN BY / FROM VERB-ING |
Shoes by Nike are very durable. (made by Nike…) |
She prefers to buy shoes from Macy's. (sold in Macy's…) |
We bought a painting by Picasso. (painted by Picasso…) |
Pies by mother are delicious. (commercial names only) |
"Unbreakable words" — something
| PRE-POSITION MODIFIER |
|---|
When some is used as a quantifier before a noun, the modifier is placed directly before the noun. |
| SOME – QUANTIFIER |
Some funny shows are on television tonight |
We'd prefer some quiet places to work. |
We hired some new employees. |
| POST-POSITION MODIFIER |
|---|
When some is part of a compound word, such as, someone, something, somewhere, it is placed after the word. See Some – A Vague One. |
| SOME – UNKNOWN, UNIDENTIFIED |
Something funny will be on television tonight. (I can't think of the name.) |
Let's go somewhere quiet. (Any place, yet unidentified) |
Someone new will be working here. (Unknown, yet unidentified) |
Adjective Complements (resulting state modifiers)
| PRE-POSITION MODIFIER |
|---|
A modifier may be used after a be verb (as a predicate complement) or before a noun to describe the noun's condition at that time. |
| PRE-NOMINAL — EXISTING |
The table is clean. It's a clean table. |
His house is blue. It's a blue house. |
The egg is cracked. It's a cracked egg. (damaged) |
| POST-POSITION MODIFIER |
|---|
In these examples, the adjective indicating the resulting state is placed after the direct object. See Adjective Complements to Verbs. |
| POST-NOMINAL — RESULTNG STATE |
He wiped the table clean. |
He painted his house blue. |
He cracked the egg open. (ready) |
nominal (adj.) – relating to the noun
See Adjective Complements to Verbs.
Grammar Notes
Word Order Resources
| FRANK / BIBER | HUDDLESTON & PULLUM |
|---|---|
FRANK: Sequence of adjectives before nouns: BIBER (CoGEL 512)
|
HUDDLESTON (CaGEL 452-5) Evaluative: wonderful, annoying, ghastly, excellent, tasty, etc. |
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.
Practice 2
In Sickness and in Health
Read for errors
Selecting a dog requires careful thought. Are you willing to make a ten to fifteen year commitment (promise to do something) — "in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer?" (marriage vow)
First, how old are the members of your family? A toy-sized, little, active, dog under fifteen pounds is not suitable (not a good choice) If you have a child younger than seven. Puppies have little, ultra-sharp, pointed teeth and will 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.
environment (n.) – the people and things that are around you in a particular place
suitable (adj.) – having the right qualities for a particular person, purpose, or situation
caretaker (n.) – a person who looks after something, someone or a pet
small-boned (adj.) – having light weight, easily breakable skeletal bones
Put the modifiers in a more natural sounding word order.
Note that word order may vary depending on: (1) 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.