Order of adjectives
When more than one adjective is used to modify a noun, or when nouns are used to modify another noun, the order of adjectives needs to follow a particular sequence. For example, we could say a delicious mature blue cheese but not a blue delicious mature cheese. This post defines the positions for different groups of adjectives with examples given.
• Origin, material and purpose
The order of adjectives of origin, material and purpose typically follow in this sequence.
| article | origin | material | purpose | noun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italian | ceramic | pasta | dishes | |
| a | Brazilian | wooden | river | canoe |
| an | English | aluminium | tennis | racquet |
• Physical description
The order of adjectives for physical description is as follows: size, shape, age and colour (This group comes before the origin – material – purpose sequence mentioned above).
| article | size | shape | age | colour | noun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | large | modern | bronze | sculpture | |
| broad | winding | historical | streets | ||
| a | large | square | new | blue | printer |
• Observations
Adjectives which describe opinions, judgements or attitudes come before all other adjectives.
| article | observation | age | origin | noun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| an | abandoned | 1930s | British | motorbike |
| a | stunning | Renaissance | painting | |
| an | athletic | young | high-school | footballer |
• Numbers
Numbers usually go before all adjectives, in the same position as articles (a/an/the):
| number | age | origin | noun |
|---|---|---|---|
| two | old | Dutch | bicycles |
| twelve | fresh | free-range | eggs |
| thirty-five | middle-aged | Chinese | tourists |
• The complete order of adjectives table
| determiner → | observation → | size → | shape → | age → |
| an | expensive | antique | ||
| several | large | young | ||
| three | unusual | rectangular | ||
| a | unique | micro | ||
| those | unattractive | |||
| colour → | origin → | material → | purpose → | NOUN |
| Ming | vase | |||
| English | sheepdogs | |||
| purple | decorative | drapes | ||
| titanium | medical | toolkit | ||
| red | fabric | wedding | roses |
•A final note on the use of commas
We generally use commas to separate three or more adjectives that are placed before a noun:
a delicious, spicy, Thai meal
a long, dark, leather jacket
But commas can be omitted when using common sets of adjectives such as trinomials:
a tall(,) dark(,) handsome visitor
a cool(,) calm(,) collected individual