米俐的部落格

If you have more than one adjective, what order do you put them in? For example, is it "a green leather chair" or "a leather green chair"?

Here are some guidelines for adjective order.

1. The closer the adjective to the noun, the more it defines the noun. So we'd say "an antique engagement ring" rather than "an engagement antique ring" because "engagement" defines what sort of ring it is.

The further from the noun, the less closely the adjective defines the noun.

2. We separate two adjectives with a comma (not "and"). So, "she had a small, yappy dog" and not "She had a small and yappy dog".

3. We use "and" after the verb "to be" and with colour adjectives.
"The dog was small, white and vicious. It wore a red and white jacket when it went out for walks."

Adjective order

Opinion, size, shape, age, colour, origin, material, defining

Examples:
She wore a beautiful, white, wedding dress.
Her mother wore an ugly, big, square, green hat.
The groom wore a stylish, grey, Italian suit.

Exercise

Put these adjectives in the right order

funny little old-fashioned toy
desk Italian leather red diary
fat middle-aged science unfriendly teacher
Chinese paper red lantern
big comfortable old sofa