Adjective Order

Introduction

In English, it is common to use more than one adjective before a noun -- for example, "He's a silly young fool," or "she's a smart, energetic woman." When you use more than one adjective, you have to put them in the right order, according to type. This page will explain the different types of adjectives and the correct order for them.

The basic types of adjectives

OpinionAn opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with you). Examples:silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult

SizeA size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is. Examples:large, tiny, enormous, little

AgeAn age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is. Examples:ancient, new, young, old

ShapeA shape adjective describes the shape of something. Examples:square, round, flat, rectangular

ColourA colour adjective, of course, describes the colour of something. Examples:blue, pink, reddish, grey

OriginAn origin adjective describes where something comes from. Examples:French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek

MaterialA material adjective describes what something is made from. Examples:wooden, metal, cotton, paper

PurposeA purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with "-ing". Examples:sleeping (as in "sleeping bag"), roasting (as in "roasting tin")

Some examples of adjective order

Opinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose

a silly young English man

a huge round metal bowl

a small red sleeping bag

When you are sure that you understand the topic, you can click on "First exercise" below to continue.

410 Grammar: Adjective Order

Click on the correct answer

1 Which is the correct order?a small Canadian thin lady

a Canadian small thin lady

a small thin Canadian lady

a thin small Canadian lady

2 Which is the correct order?a carving steel new knife

a new steel carving knife

a steel new carving knife

a new carving steel knife

3 Which is the correct order?a beautiful blue sailing boat

a blue beautiful sailing boat

a sailing beautiful blue boat

a blue sailing beautiful boat

4 Which is the correct order?an old wooden square table

a square wooden old table

an old square wooden table

a wooden old square table

5 Which is the correct order?an new French exciting band

a French new exciting band

an exciting French new band

an exciting new French band

6 Which is the correct order?a red big plastic hat

a big red plastic hat

a plastic big red hat

a bit plastic red hat

7 Which is the correct order?a small Japanese serving bowl

a Japanese small serving bowl

a small serving Japanese bowl

a serving small Japanese bowl

8 Which is the correct order?a cotton dirty old tie

a dirty cotton old tie

an old cotton dirty tie

a dirty old cotton tie

410 Grammar: Adjective Order

Type the correct noun phrase, putting the adjectives in order.

1. round / small / reading / lamp

2. German / old / yellow / car

3. wooden / huge / sailing / ship

4. physics / boring / old / teacher

5. slim / Canadian / handsome / snowboarder

6. sugar / blue / round / bowl