Do you have a silk blue lovely dress? Or is it a lovely blue silk dress? How do you describe something with more than one adjective?
Adjectives are words that describe something or someone. They give information about nouns, such as color, size or how many. Now, if you want to use more than one adjective in your sentence, which adjective goes in which place?
Ordering adjectives in English can be quite tricky, but don't worry. There is a general rule to follow, but even native English speakers find it hard to tell you what the rule is.
Below is the usual adjective order, with some sample adjectives.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantity | Value or Opinion |
Size | Temperature | Age | Shape | Color | Origin | Material | Purpose |
|
one |
bad |
small |
cold |
old |
round |
red |
Indian |
gold |
running shoes |
Purpose adjectives describe what the object is for. They are almost part of the noun.
Note that there are some exceptions, as always, but you will be safe following this general rule. Remember that it is also rare to use more than three adjectives in one sentence!
Here are some examples:
1. She has a lovely blue silk dress.
2. Jason has an expensive new black Italian car.
3. The kitchen has two big plastic tables we can use.
4. It's a lovely warm afternoon.
5. This is a delicious hot Vietnamese soup.
6. My dad has an old wooden tennis racket.
Now practice making your own sentences!
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