Order of Adjectives - Rules, Usage and • The fifth position can be occupied by

Examples the age of the noun. For example:

new, old, ancient, young, etc.
What Is the Order of Adjectives?
• The shape of the noun is what takes
The English language gives its users the the sixth position. For example:
liberty to use multiple adjectives to describe square, cubical, round, circular,
everything they can perceive with their five spherical, cylindrical, triangular, etc.
senses. There is, however, a particular order • Colours of nouns take the next
in which these adjectives should be used in position after shapes in a sentence.
a sentence. Let us look at how it works. For example: grey, purple, deep
• The first component that should be blue, black, etc.
placed in a sentence according to • The origin of the noun comes in the
the order of adjectives is eighth position. For example: Indian,
the determiner. Determiners includ Chinese, Spanish, Dutch, English, Sri
e possessive Lankan, etc.
adjectives, demonstrative • The ninth position is taken up by
adjectives, demonstrative the material of the noun. For
pronouns and articles. For example: example: silk, cotton, jute, wooden,
my, his, your, her, their, its, this, glass, acrylic, etc.
that, these, those, a, an and the. • In the last position, just before the
• Then comes the quantity of the noun, you can write the purpose or
particular object in the second qualifier of the object. For example:
place. For example: two, ten, a sports (uniform), vending (machine),
dozen, many, much, a few, several, denim (shirt), jute (saree), painting
etc. (brush), etc.
• A person’s opinions about a The most important point that you should
particular noun is placed in the third remember when using multiple adjectives is
position in a sentence with multiple that the order has to be followed even if all
adjectives. Just keep in mind that types of adjectives are not used.
opinions can be general or specific.
For example:
For example: beautiful, tasty,
precious, horrible, pretty, elegant, I saw a/ cute/ little/ white cat on the way
lovely, etc. home.
• The size of the noun comes next. For
(Determiner / opinion / size / colour)
example: huge, tiny, big, small,
medium, long, etc. Have you seen the / ancient /
Portuguese synagogue in Cochin?
(Determiner / Age / Origin) Furry dogs may overheat in the
summertime.
Examples of Order of Adjectives
My cake should have sixteen candles.
Here are some examples to help you
comprehend the order of adjectives. The scariest villain of all time is Darth
Vader.
• Mazeika asked all of her bridesmaids
to wear soft red silk sarees for her In the sentences above, the adjectives are
wedding. easy to spot because they come
• My brother goes to college on his immediately before the nouns they modify.
new R15 bike.
Acting as what’s called a subjective
• We got a huge wooden wall
complement with the help of a linking verb,
cupboard made for our friend’s new a predicate adjective modifies the subject
home. of a sentence. A linking verb is a verb like to
• Dias chose to stay in an old 1 BHK be, to feel, to seem, or to taste that, rather
apartment until he finds a better than describing an action, helps to describe
apartment close to his office. a state of being or a sensory experience.
• My father bought me a tiny little
golden retriever puppy for my last That cow sure is happy.
birthday. It smells gross in the locker room.

Driving is faster than walking.

What is the adjective?
Uses of adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe the
qualities or states of being Adjectives tell the reader what kind of
of nouns: enormous, doglike, silly, yellow, fu something you’re talking about, or how
n, fast. They can also describe the quantity much or how many of something you’re
of nouns: many, few, millions, eleven. talking about.

Adjectives modify nouns Please use three white flowers in the

arrangement.
As you may already know, adjectives are
words that modify (describe) nouns. Three and white are modifying flowers.
Adjectives do not Often, when adjectives are used together,
modify verbs or adverbs or other adjectives. you should separate them with a comma or
Margot wore a beautiful hat to the pie- conjunction. See “Coordinate adjectives”
eating contest. below for more detail.

I’m looking for a small, good-tempered dog

to keep as a pet.
My new dog is small and good-tempered. A more awful situation

A more mischievous cat

More garrulous squirrels

Degrees of adjectives Superlative adjectives indicate that

something has the highest degree of the
Adjectives come in three forms, known as
quality in question. One-syllable adjectives
degrees: absolute, comparative,
become superlatives by adding the suffix -
and superlative.
est (or just -st for adjectives that already
Absolute adjectives describe something in end in e). As with the comparative, some
its own right. two-syllable adjectives use -est to form the
superlative while others use the word most.
A cool guy
In general, two-syllable adjectives ending
A messy desk in -y replace -y with -iest. Adjectives of
three or more syllables add the word most.
A rigid guideline
When you use an article with a superlative
An awful situation adjective, it will almost always be the
A mischievous cat definite article (the) rather than a or an.
Using a superlative inherently indicates that
Garrulous squirrels you are talking about a specific item or
Comparative adjectives, unsurprisingly, items.
make a comparison between two or more The coolest guy
things. For most one-syllable adjectives, the
comparative is formed by adding the suffix - The messiest desk
er (or just -r if the adjective already ends The rigidest /most rigid guideline
with an e). For two-syllable adjectives, some
use -er to form the comparative while The most awful situation
others use the word more. In general, two- The most mischievous cat
syllable adjectives ending in –er, –le, –ow, –
The most garrulous squirrels
ure, or –y can be made comparative by
adding -er (in the case of -y words, Coordinate adjectives should be separated
replace y with –ier). For adjectives of three by a comma or the word and. Adjectives are
or more syllables, add the word more. said to be coordinate if they modify the
same noun in a sentence to the same
A cooler guy
degree.
A messier desk
This is going to be a long, cold winter.
A rigider/more rigid guideline
Isobel’s dedicated and tireless efforts made Adjectives vs. adverbs
all the difference.
Many of us learned in school that adjectives
Sometimes, when two adjectives appear modify nouns and that adverbs modify
next to each other and modify the same verbs. But as we’ve seen, adjectives don’t
noun, the one closer to the noun is so need to be right next to nouns in order to
closely related to the noun that they form a modify them; they can do so from after a
single semantic unit together, and that unit linking verb in a sentence, as predicate
is what is modified by the first adjective. In adjectives. This leads to a common type of
this case, the adjectives are not coordinate mistake: using an adverb when what you
and should not be separated by a comma. want is a predicate adjective. Here’s an
example you’ve probably heard before:
My cat, Goober, loves sleeping on
this tattered woolen sweater. I feel badly about what happened.

No one could open the old silver locket. Because feel is a verb, it may seem to call
for an adverb rather than an adjective.
In some cases, it’s pretty hard to tell
But feel isn’t just any verb; it’s a linking
whether two adjectives are coordinate or
verb. An adverb would describe how you
not. But there are a couple of ways you can
perform the action of feeling—an adjective
test them. Try inserting the
describes what you feel. “I feel badly”
word and between the adjectives to see if
would mean that you are bad at feeling
the phrase still seems natural. In the first
things. If you’re trying to read Braille
sentence above, “this tattered and
through thick leather gloves, then it might
woolen sweater” doesn’t sound right,
make sense for you to say “I feel badly.” But
because you really aren’t talking about a
if you’re trying to say that you are
sweater that is both tattered and woolen in
experiencing a negative emotion, “I feel
the same way. It’s a woolen sweater
bad” is the phrase you want.
inherently, and it has become
tattered. Woolen sweater forms a unit of It’s easier to see this distinction with a
meaning that is modified by tattered. different linking verb. Consider the
difference between these two sentences:
Another way to test for coordinate
adjectives is to try switching the order of Max smells badly.
the adjectives and seeing if the phrase still
Max smells bad.
works. In the second sentence, you
wouldn’t say “No one could open the silver “Max smells badly” means that Max, the
old locket.” You can’t reverse the order of poor thing, has a weak sense of smell. “Max
the adjectives because silver locket is a unit smells bad” means that Max stinks—poor
that is modified by old. us.
When nouns are adjectives and adjectives In these sentences, the
are nouns nouns exam and qualities have been elided.

One more thing you should know about Adjective usage advice
adjectives is that, sometimes, a word that is
We’ll end with a few words about adjectives
normally used as a noun can function as an
and style. It’s one thing to know how to use
adjective, depending on its placement.
an adjective; it’s another to know when
Never try to pet someone’s guide dog using one is a good idea. Good writing is
without asking permission first. precise and concise. Sometimes you need
an adjective to convey exactly what you
Guide is a noun, but in this sentence, it is
mean. It’s hard to describe a red sports car
being put to use as an adjective to
without the word red. But often, choosing
modify dog.
the right noun eliminates the need to tack
It works the other way too: Sometimes on an adjective. Is it a big house, or is it a
words that are normally adjectives shift into mansion? A large crowd or a throng? A
use as nouns. Many times, this happens mixed-breed dog or a mutt? A dark night or
with adjectives used to denote a group of just . . . night? Always aim to make every
people, with the addition of the: word count in your writing. If you need an
adjective, use it. But if it’s not pulling its
The French are known for valuing their
weight, delete it.
leisure time.

Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to

the poor.

In the above examples, the word people

have been elided and the
adjectives French, rich, and poor are
functioning as nouns. This kind of shift
happens with other kinds of adjective-noun
pairs too, however, especially when they
are commonly used together:

Our English class took our final this

morning.

Camille tends to focus on intangibles like

communication style and a sense of
camaraderie when deciding whether to
accept a job offer.