Order of Adjectives: Adjectives modify the noun and it is also known as describing words. Adjectives add colour to the written and spoken word. For instance: ‘Pamela’s hair is long’ gives a picture of Pamela’s hair. When we say, ‘Pamela’s hair was long, wavy and brown in colour’. This sentence is a better word picture giving us a better idea of Pamela’s hair. When two or more adjectives need to be used like in this sentence, the order of adjectives has to be followed.
- Quantity or Number
- Quality
- Size
- Age
- Shape
- Colour
- Origin
- Material
- Purpose
Practise Exercise
Put the following adjectives in correct order to qualify the noun given
- A _____________________ bike. (black, new)
- An_____________________ book. ( interesting, old)
- _________________________ chocolates. (delicious, Swiss)
- A ________________ cat. ( silly, old)
- A _________________ car. ( American, big)
- ____________________ ( light, green)
- A ____________________ girl. (fat, tall)
- A _____________________ cake. (chocolate, round)
- ______________________ apples. (Kashmiri, red)
- A _______________________ guitar. ( fibre glass, new)
- _____________________ steps. ( large, twenty)
- A _______________________ ( long, interesting)
- A ________________________ bottle ) water, plastic)
- A __________________________ carpet. ( oval, woman)
- A ______________________ box. ( wooden, treasure)
Put the following adjectives in correct order to qualify the noun given
- Sara had a ______________ bow in her hair yesterday. (nice, yellow, big)
- She lost a _________________ cat. (small, spotted, white)
- I bought ________________________ oranges. ( great, some, big)
- We met ___________________girls in the park. ( very, smart, two)
- The clown in the circus was wearing a ____________________________hat.( big, green, pointed)
- You baked _________________________ cake. (vanilla, delicious,three)
- It is a _________________________ day. ( hot, windy, long)
- My uncle wore a _____________________tie. (blue, silk, spotted)
- Did you see ________________________girls go this way? (any, tall, Chinese)
- My sister lives in ____________________ house. (old, big, Victorian )
- There was an ________________________ clock on sale. ( Italian, old, wonderful)
- There were many papers in that ___________________________ box. (square, big, blue)
- Those are ________________________________ ornaments. ( plastic, yellow, disgusting)
- We are going to buy __________________________ trousers. (slim, French, some)
- There were ___________________________ boys in the bus. (angry, five, fat)
Put the following adjectives in correct order to qualify the noun given
- I want to buy _______________________ book. ( popular, Spanish, old, interesting)
- There were _______________________ caps. ( some, red, Italian, rain)
- In the hall there was an ___________________________ painting. (modern, rectangular, big, Chinese)
- I have a __________________________ toy.(new, cardboard, flat, beautiful)
- We bought a _________________________ car. ( racing, red, American, old)
- The village was _______________________ (large, populated, green, mountainous)
- The painting was done by a __________________ lady. ( short, elderly, white, French)
- There ___________________ ladies were fighting for a cause. ( old, friendly, four, Indian)
- He was a ___________________________singer. ( famous, young, classical, American)
- We bought some______________________ covers. ( seat, silky, red, costly)
- I was gifted __________________ bracelet. ( one, thin, costly, emerald)
- Today I saw a ___________________________ mattress. ( huge, thick, white, cheap)
- There were ______________________ actors for the function. ( four, famous, female, old)
- The posters were __________________________( huge, colourful, rectangular, glossy)
- In Paul’s house there is _____________________ table in the dining room. (beautiful, round, Chinese, wooden)
- My aunt knitted __________________________ pullover for me. ( red, woollen, nice, new)
- I can see __________________________ clouds in the sky. ( big, white, round, fluffy)
- A ________________________________ car was parked in front of the apartment. ( new, shiny, sports, huge)
- _____________________________ fishwere playing with the children. ( big, blue, friendly, two)
- The shop had ____________________________ eats. ( crunchy, many, sweet, Italian)