Order of Adjectives - Rules, Usage and Examples

Are you a person who loves to describe things, animals, people and everything around you? If you are, you would definitely know a lot of adjectives, but are you sure if you are using them in the right order? Yes, you heard it right. There is a particular order in which adjectives have to be written when more than one adjective is used to describe the same subject or object. This article on the order of adjectives will teach you how to place adjectives effectively in a sentence. Check out the examples to have a better idea of the same.

Table of Contents

• What Is the Order of Adjectives?
• Order of Adjectives Chart
• Examples of Order of Adjectives
• Frequently Asked Questions on Order of Adjectives in English

What Is the Order of Adjectives?

The English language gives its users the liberty to use multiple adjectives to describe everything they can perceive with their five senses. There is, however, a particular order in which these adjectives should be used in a sentence. Let us look at how it works.

• The first component that should be placed in a sentence according to the order of adjectives is the determiner. Determiners include possessive adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, demonstrative pronouns and articles. For example: my, his, your, her, their, its, this, that, these, those, a, an and the.
• Then comes the quantity of the particular object in the second place. For example: two, ten, a dozen, many, much, a few, several, etc.
• A person’s opinions about a particular noun is placed in the third position in a sentence with multiple adjectives. Just keep in mind that opinions can be general or specific. For example: beautiful, tasty, precious, horrible, pretty, elegant, lovely, etc.
• The size of the noun comes next. For example: huge, tiny, big, small, medium, long, etc.
• The fifth position can be occupied by the age of the noun. For example: new, old, ancient, young, etc.
• The shape of the noun is what takes the sixth position. For example: square, cubical, round, circular, spherical, cylindrical, triangular, etc.
• Colours of nouns take the next position after shapes in a sentence. For example: grey, purple, deep blue, black, etc.
• The origin of the noun comes in the eighth position. For example: Indian, Chinese, Spanish, Dutch, English, Sri Lankan, etc.
• The ninth position is taken up by the material of the noun. For example: silk, cotton, jute, wooden, glass, acrylic, etc.
• In the last position, just before the noun, you can write the purpose or qualifier of the object. For example: sports (uniform), vending (machine), denim (shirt), jute (saree), painting (brush), etc.

The most important point that you should remember when using multiple adjectives is that the order has to be followed even if all types of adjectives are not used.

For example:

I saw a/ cute/ little/ white cat on the way home.

(Determiner / opinion / size / colour)

Have you seen the / ancient / Portuguese synagogue in Cochin?

(Determiner / Age / Origin)

Order of Adjectives Chart

Have a look at the chart below to have a better understanding.

Examples of Order of Adjectives

Here are some examples to help you comprehend the order of adjectives.

• Mazeeka asked all of her bridesmaids to wear soft red silk sarees for her wedding.
• My brother goes to college on his new R15 bike.
• We got a huge wooden wall cupboard made for our friend’s new home.
• Dias chose to stay in an old 1 BHK apartment until he finds a better apartment close to his office.
• My father bought me a tiny little golden retriever puppy for my last birthday.