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Adjectives: order

de English Grammar Today

Order of adjectives
When more than one adjective comes before a noun, the adjectives are normally in a
particular order. Adjectives which describe opinions or attitudes (e.g. amazing) usually
come first, before more neutral, factual ones (e.g. red):

She was wearing an amazing red coat.

Not: … red amazing coat

If we don’t want to emphasise any one of the adjectives, the most usual sequence of
adjectives is:

order relating to examples


1 opinion unusual, lovely, beautiful
2 size big, small, tall
3 physical quality thin, rough, untidy
4 shape round, square, rectangular
5 age young, old, youthful
6 colour blue, red, pink
7 origin Dutch, Japanese, Turkish
8 material metal, wood, plastic
9 type general-purpose, four-sided, U-shaped
10 purpose cleaning, hammering, cooking

It was made of a 1strange, 6green, 8metallic material.

It’s a 4long, 8narrow, 10plastic brush.

Panettone is a 4round, 7Italian, 9bread-like Christmas cake.

Here are some invented examples of longer adjective phrases. A noun phrase which
included all these types would be extremely rare.

She was a 1beautiful, 2tall, 3thin, 5young, 6black-haired, 7Scottish woman.

What an 1amazing, 2little, 5old, 7Chinese cup and saucer!

Adjectives joined by and


When more than one adjective occurs after a verb such as be (a linking verb), the
second last adjective is normally connected to the last adjective by and:

Home was always a warm, welcoming place. Now it is sad, dark and cold.

And is less common when more than one adjective comes before the noun (e.g. a warm,
welcoming place). However, we can use and when there are two or more adjectives of
the same type, or when the adjectives refer to different parts of the same thing:

It was a blue and green cotton shirt

Order of adjectives
When more than one adjective comes before a noun, the adjectives are normally in a
particular order. Adjectives which describe opinions or attitudes (e.g. amazing) usually
come first, before more neutral, factual ones (e.g. red):

She was wearing an amazing red coat.

Not: … red amazing coat

If we don’t want to emphasise any one of the adjectives, the most usual sequence of
adjectives is:

order relating to examples


1 opinion unusual, lovely, beautiful
2 size big, small, tall
3 physical quality thin, rough, untidy
4 shape round, square, rectangular
5 age young, old, youthful
6 colour blue, red, pink
7 origin Dutch, Japanese, Turkish
8 material metal, wood, plastic
9 type general-purpose, four-sided, U-shaped
10 purpose cleaning, hammering, cooking

It was made of a 1strange, 6green, 8metallic material.

It’s a 4long, 8narrow, 10plastic brush.

Panettone is a 4round, 7Italian, 9bread-like Christmas cake.

Here are some invented examples of longer adjective phrases. A noun phrase which
included all these types would be extremely rare.
She was a 1beautiful, 2tall, 3thin, 5young, 6black-haired, 7Scottish woman.

What an 1amazing, 2little, 5old, 7Chinese cup and saucer!

Adjectives joined by and

When more than one adjective occurs after a verb such as be (a linking verb), the
second last adjective is normally connected to the last adjective by and:

Home was always a warm, welcoming place. Now it is sad, dark and cold.

And is less common when more than one adjective comes before the noun (e.g. a warm,
welcoming place). However, we can use and when there are two or more adjectives of
the same type, or when the adjectives refer to different parts of the same thing:

It was a blue and green cotton shirt

Adjectives
de English Grammar Today

Adjectives are one of the four major word classes, along with nouns, verbs and adverbs.
Examples of adjectives are: big, small, blue, old, rich and nice. They give us more
information about people, animals or things represented by nouns and pronouns:

That’s a big house.

Look at the grey horse.

Some dogs have long tails.

She is tall.

See also:

 Nouns
 Pronouns

Meanings of adjectives
Adjectives give us more information. They modify or describe features and qualities of
people, animals and things.

Here are some of the common meanings.


examples meaning
I am fond of ice cream.

Cairo is different from


Alexandria.
Relations between people and things. These adjectives
His car is similar to mine. usually require a word or phrase (complement) to
complete their meaning.
Other examples:

keen (on), near (to), aware


(of)
He’s generous.

She’s a kind woman.

The waiter was very polite. Descriptions of people and things in terms of their
actions.
Other examples:

talkative, cruel, cooperative,


helpful, useful
That’s an old house.

The Olympic stadium is big.


Features that will last a long time or will not change
Other examples: (permanent).

tall, old, good, rough, true,


ugly, red, heavy
Anyone hungry? Lunch is
nearly ready.

It’s so cold in Nick’s house.


States and conditions that can change.
Other examples:

absent, ill, dry, full, lonely,


wet, hot, thirsty, angry
I saw a great French film last
night.

I don’t like modern paintings.


Classifying people and things into types.
I live in a detached house.

Other examples:
examples meaning
organic (vegetables),
impressionist (painter), wild
(salmon)

See also:

 Adjective phrases

Oppositeness
Most common adjectives are members of a pair of opposites (antonyms):

beautiful – ugly dead – alive happy – sad rough – smooth


big – small dry – wet heavy – light tall – short
cold – hot good – bad

Gradable and ungradable


Many pairs of opposites are gradable, i.e. they have different degrees of the same
feature:

Small:

This suitcase is extremely small.

This suitcase is very small.

This suitcase is quite small.

Hot:

It was reasonably hot in Italy this summer.

It was quite hot in Italy this summer.

It was pretty hot in Italy this summer.

It was very hot in Italy this summer.

It was extremely hot in Italy this summer.

One type of adjective is not gradable. These are the adjectives that we use to classify
people and things into types:
Warning:

These vegetables are organic.

Not: These vegetables are very organic.

I like salmon especially when it is wild.

Not: I like salmon especially when it is quite wild.

Adjective phrases
de English Grammar Today

An adjective phrase always has an adjective acting as the head. The adjective phrase
may also contain words or phrases before or after the head (modifiers and
complements):

Adjective (head):

That’s a lovely cake.

These flowers are wonderful.

Adjective preceded by a modifier (underlined):

That soup is pretty cold.

Many of the exercises are fairly difficult.

Adjective + a modifier after it:

The food was tasty enough.

The car is economical for its size.

Adjective + a word or phrase which is required to complete its meaning (a


complement):

She was aware of the danger of travelling alone.

Some people weren’t willing to pay extra to book a seat on the plane.

Adjective preceded by a modifier + a word or phrase which is required to complete its


meaning (a complement):

We’re not very keen on having an activity holiday.

Are you really interested in rock and roll?


Some adjective phrases have more complex structures.

Adjective phrases: position


de English Grammar Today

When an adjective is used with a noun, the usual order in English is adjective + noun:

a yellow balloon

Not: a balloon yellow

See also:

 Adjective phrases

Adjectives with nouns and verbs


Adjectives can go before the noun (attributive) or after linking verbs such as be,
become, seem (predicative):

What a beautiful flower! (attributive)

This bridge looks unsafe. (predicative)

Some adjectives can only be used in one position or the other.

Adjectives normally only used before a noun

Numbers and first, last

With numbers and with words like first, last, next, the usual order is first/next + number
+ adjective + noun:

Special offer on the last three remaining sofas.

There used to be two big fields here when I was young.

I don’t have to work for the next four days.

That’s the second large study on unemployment this year.


Some adjectives of degree

When we use words like absolute, complete, perfect to talk about degree, they can only
be used before nouns. This group of adjectives includes proper, pure, real, sheer, true,
utter:

That’s an absolute lie. I did not use your car when you were away.

Not: That lie is absolute.

Lily has always been a true friend to me.

Not: My friend Lily is true.

Some adjectives of time and order

Some time and order adjectives, such as former, present, future, are used before the
noun only. Other examples are latter, old (an old friend = ‘a friend for many years’),
early (early French literature = ‘of the initial period in the history of something’), and
late (the late Mr Richards = ‘died recently’):

Her former husband had bought the house but she never liked it.

Not: Her husband was former …

This is a church from the early Romanesque period

Not: This is a church from the Romanesque period. The Romanesque period was early.

When we use early after a verb (predicatively) it means something different. The train
was early means that it came before we expected it.

Some adjectives that limit the following noun

Adjectives like certain, main, major, only, particular limit the noun that they go before
(the only people who know, the particular road that we travelled on). Other examples
are principal, sole (meaning ‘only’), very, chief:

The main reason why the cinema closed is because the building was too old and
dangerous.

Not: The reason is main why the cinema …

That’s the very tool I am looking for. (very means ‘exact’)

Not: That tool is very …

Adjectives normally only used after a noun

We use some -ed forms after a noun:


Most of the issues mentioned in the documentary are not very important.

Not: Most of the mentioned issues …

The difference in percentages is clear from the illustrations shown.

Not: … from the shown illustrations.

Adjectives normally only used after a verb

Adjectives with the prefix a-

We can’t use adjectives with the prefix a- before a noun. We use them after linking
verbs such as be, seem, become, feel, smell, taste. Common examples of adjectives with
the prefix a- include awake, alive, asleep, aboard (on a plane, boat, bus or train), afloat,
ablaze (on fire):

Katie was awake at the time.

Not: Katie was an awake person at the time.

People were asleep in the bedroom.

Not: There were asleep people in the bedroom.

The passengers were all aboard when they heard the loud bang.

Not: The aboard passengers heard the loud bang.

If we want to express a similar meaning with an adjective in front of the noun, we can
use a related adjective.

Compare

before a noun after a verb


Even fourteen days after the earthquake, Even fourteen days after the earthquake,
rescue workers were still finding live rescue workers were still finding babies who
babies in the rubble. were alive in the rubble.
It is very strange to see a lone wolf. They It is very strange to see a wolf who is alone.
always stay together in groups called a They always stay together in groups called a
‘pack’. ‘pack’.
There was a blazing fire in the cinema. It The cinema was ablaze for many hours and
took many firemen to put it out. it took many firemen to put out the fire.
Some adjectives referring to states of health

Most commonly, the adjectives ill and well are used after a verb and not before a noun:

I feel ill.
Not: He went to visit his ill sister.

She’s not well.

Not: He’s not a well child.

Words and phrases that go before and after adjectives


The most typical words and phrases that go before adjectives (premodifiers) are adverb
phrases expressing degree:

He was pretty surprised then.

This cake tastes a bit strange.

Photographs are really cheap nowadays.

The major exception is the degree adverb enough, which goes after the adjective (a
postmodifier):

I am strong enough to face the difficulties.

Is that car big enough for all of us?

See also:

 Enough

Other types of adverbs can also go before adjectives:

He had lost his usually calm attitude and become very nervous. (adverb of frequency +
adjective)

He made an insensitively timed remark that upset her. (comment adverb + adjective)

Gradable adjectives and words and phrases that go


before them
Most common adjectives can express different degrees of qualities, properties, states,
conditions, relations, etc. These are called gradable adjectives:

a pretty big meal

a really big meal


an extremely big meal

Before gradable adjectives, we can use words which show different degrees of the
feature in question. These are usually adverb phrases.

The waves are fairly


high in the winter.
an adverb of degree used before gradable adjective high.
The waves are quite
high in the winter.
The waves are this
This high would usually be spoken with a gesture showing a
high in the winter.
specific height.
I can’t believe the
That high refers to a statement made by someone about the
waves are that high in
height of the waves or to the moment of seeing the high waves.
the winter.
Six metres is a noun phrase. Certain adjectives expressing
measurable features (e.g. height, thickness, age, time) may be
modified by such noun phrases:
The waves are over six
metres high in the The wall is half a metre thick.
winter.
The clock is over 100 years old.

Sorry, we’re half an hour early!

Some degree adverbs (so, too, as) need a word or phrase to complete their meaning (a
complement). The complement may be a clause or a phrase. The complement comes
after the adjective head.

Compare

The waves were so So is the degree adverb before the adjective high.
high that they went It needs the complement that they went onto the
onto the street! street in order to complete its meaning.
Too is the degree adverb before the adjective high.
The waves are too high to go
It needs the complement to go sailing in order to
sailing.
complete its meaning.
The waves are as high as the wall To say that things are the same, we use as +
in the winter. adjective + as + complement.
To compare two things which are different, we
The waves are higher than the wall
add the suffix -er to the adjective before the
in the winter.
complement.

How is used to ask questions and to make exclamations about degree. There is an
important difference in word order.

Compare
A question about degree:
How high are the waves?
how + adjective + verb + noun phrase?
An exclamation about degree:
How high the waves are!
how + adjective + noun phrase + verb!
Warning:

Some adjectives cannot be made bigger, smaller, higher, lower, stronger, weaker, etc.
These are called ungradable adjectives:

The tree is dead.

Not: The tree is fairly dead.

My dog is female.

Not: My dog is sort of female.

Other common ungradable adjectives include: automatic/manual; Irish/Brazilian/Thai


etc.; married/unmarried/single.

Gradable opposites (antonyms)


Open-ended

The most common gradable adjectives can be grouped into pairs of opposites
(antonyms) which refer to features like height: short – tall; heat: hot – cold, size; big –
small, etc. These adjectives are at the upper and lower parts of an open-ended scale (a
scale with no maximum or minimum):

short tall
big small
Warning:

We can’t use ungradable adverbs such as completely, absolutely, entirely, utterly or


totally before these adjectives because they are open-ended:

My working day is very long. I start work at 8 am and I don’t finish until 8 pm.

Not: My working day is completely long.

My house is so hot.

Not: My house is absolutely hot.


This office is extremely small.

Not: This office is totally small.

Maximum and minimum

Some other gradable adjectives can express features which have a maximum and/or
minimum (zero) value:

full empty
possible impossible
black white

We can use degree adverbs such as absolutely, completely, entirely, totally and other
similar words before these adjectives:

We haven’t had rain for two months. The garden is completely dry.

The city centre is absolutely full of tourists at this time of year.

Other degree adverbs which we can use before this type of gradable adjective include
almost, barely, half, scarcely:

Brain cell regeneration is almost possible, say scientists.

Warning:

The ungradable adverb quite has different meanings depending on whether it is used
with an open-ended gradable adjective (hot – cold) or an adjective which has a
maximum and/or minimum (black – white).

Compare

It’s quite cold in here.


quite means ‘fairly’
I’m quite hungry now. Are you?
The situation in my old job was quite different. It
quite means ‘completely’
was a very small new company.
In this context, quite is given
You’re quite right – the plane leaves at 3 pm, not 4
extra spoken stress.
pm.

See also:

 Quite
 Gradable and ungradable
Different meanings of adjectives before the noun and
after the verb
We can use some adjectives before the noun or after the verb but the meaning differs.

Compare

before the noun (attributive) after the verb (predicative)


We can finish that job on Monday but this
particular job needs to be done by today. My boss is very particular. He checks all
our work very carefully. (particular means
(particular means ‘this and not any not easy to satisfy)
other/specific’)
The trains are always late on Sundays.
His late wife came from a very rich family.
(late means ‘dead/deceased’)
(late means ‘not on time’)
There’s a certain amount of truth in that The police are certain that the killer was
story. (certain means ‘some, but not a known to the victim. (certain means
specific amount’) ‘sure/definite’)

Adjectives before nouns that modify other nouns


A noun (n) is sometimes used before another noun to give more information about it.
This is called a noun modifier. Adjectives (adj) come before noun modifiers:

He drives a [ADJ]red [N] sports [N]car.

That’s an expensive laser printer.

See also:

 Nouns

Order of adjectives in noun phrases with articles and


degree modifiers
When adjectives are used before the noun (attributive function), there are also
sometimes degree adverbs. Different degree adverbs require different positions for the
adjective phrase.

Positions of indefinite article and degree adverbs.


indefinite article degree adverb adjective noun
fairly

very
a/an cold day
moderately

extremely
indefinite article adjective degree adverb noun
a cold enough day

Special cases

Quite: quite a cold day

The normal order with quite is quite a cold day. The order a quite cold day (indefinite
article + intensifier + adjective) is also possible but it is not as common.

Rather: a rather cold day

The normal order with rather is a rather cold day. The order rather a cold day
(intensifier + indefinite article + adjective) is also possible but it is not as common.

See also:

 Quite
 Rather

As and so: a man as/so tall as him

The most common order with as and so in negative clauses in speaking is a man as/so
tall as him (as/so + adjective + as + complement):

I haven’t seen a man as tall as him before.

You won’t often find a room so small as that.

The order as/so tall a man as him is also possible but it is more common in writing.

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