ORDER OF ADJECTIVES

OPINION

SIZE - SHAPE - AGE - COLOUR - ORIGIN - MATERIAL - NOUN

COMMAS:

Between Coordinate Adjectives

Coordinate adjectives are those that carry equal weightlike co-workers in an organization. It doesn't
matter which comes first because they both have equal emphasis. It does not matter which order coordinate
adjectives appear in.
EXAMPLE:
Willy had a long, bushy beard.
Willy had a bushy, long beard.

It does not matter which comes first: long or bushy. These are coordinate adjectives. Notice the comma between
the adjectives.
NOT Between Cumulative Adjectives
Cumulative adjectives build their meaning in one particular order. You can not switch them
around and still make sense.
EXAMPLE:
Willy wore his black basketball shoes.
Willy wore his basketball black shoes. (This sounds silly, doesn't it?)
The order of black and basketball does matter; black must appear first in the sentence. These are
cumulative adjectives: they build their meaning in one order only. Notice there is no comma
between them.

Arrange the adjectives in the right order:

1.- There was _____________________________________________________________ outside the house.
(a dog, black, terrifying, huge)
2.- I gave her _____________________________________________________________ for her birthday.
(some handkerchiefs, beautiful, white, cotton)
3.- There was ___________________________________________________________ hanging on the wall.
(a picture, old, wonderful, Impressionist)
4.- Have you seen __________________________________________________________ lying on the floor?
(a pair of gloves, brown, leather)
5.- She was wearing __________________________________________________________________ .
(a sweater, winter, woolen)
6.- There is _________________________________________________________________ in this town.
(a church, Gothic, very old)
7.- My mother bought _________________________________________________________ for the picnic.
(several plates, plastic, blue, small)
8.- ____________________________________________ didnt feel comfortable living with the British family.
(the girl, French, fifteen-year-old)
9.- There were _________________________________________________________________ on the shelf.
(a lot of ornaments, china, little, useless)
10.- Why dont you wear _______________________________________________________ . Its rather cold.
(your coat, thick, fur)

Choose the right option:

1. a a cotton dirty old tie
b. a dirty cotton old tie
c. an old cotton dirty tie
d. a dirty old cotton tie
2.

a.
b.
c.
d.

a
a
a
a

small Japanese serving

Japanese small serving
small serving Japanese
serving small Japanese

bowl
bowl
bowl
bowl

3.

a.
b.
c.
d.

a
a
a
a

red big plastic

big red plastic
plastic big red
big plastic red

4.

a.
b.
c.
d.

an new French exciting band

a French new exciting band
an exciting French new band
an exciting new French band

hat
hat
hat
hat

5.

a.
b.
c.
d.

an old wooden square table

a square wooden old table
an old square wooden table
a wooden old square table

6.

a.
b.
c.
d.

a
a
a
a

beautiful blue sailing

blue beautiful sailing
sailing beautiful blue
blue sailing beautiful

7.

a.
b.
c.
d.

a
a
a
a

carving steel new

new steel carving
steel new carving
new carving steel

8.

a.
b.
c.
d.

a
a
a
a

small Canadian thin

Canadian small thin
small thin Canadian
thin small Canadian

boat
boat
boat
boat

knife
knife
knife
knife
lady
lady
lady
lady

Order the words in the boxes.

1 ___________________________________
.

8 ___________________________________
.

my teacher old horrible maths dirty

2 ___________________________________
.

new a perfect system

9 ___________________________________
.

black small box ebony a old

3 ___________________________________
.

18th century a Scottish fantastic castle

10 ___________________________________
.

man a short friendly young

4 ___________________________________
.

a businessman horrible greedy

11 ___________________________________
.

old our headmaster boring

5 ___________________________________
.

a big old brown bear

12 ___________________________________
.

wooden dark a table long

6

___________________________________
.

citizen self-righteous a middle-class

13

city a Italian beautiful old

7

___________________________________
.
arts nice teacher new our French

___________________________________
.
spoilt boy nasty a little

14

___________________________________
.
American gorgeous blond-haired a girl

EXERCISE 1
1. There Was a terrifying huge black dog
2. I gave her some beautiful white cotton handkerchiefs
3. There was a wonderful old Impressionist picture
4. Have you seen a pair of brown leather gloves
5. She was wearing a winter woollen sweater
6. There is a very old Gothic church
7. My mother bought several small blue plastic plates
8. The fifteen-year-old French girl
9. There were a lot of useless little china ornaments
10. Why dont you wear your thick fur coat
EXERCISE 2
1. d
2. a
3. b
4. d
5. c
6. a
7. b
8. c
EXERCISE 3
1. My horrible dirty old maths teacher
2. a small old black ebony box
3. a friendly short young man
4. our boring old headmaster
5. a long dark wooden table
6. a beautiful old Italian city
7. our nice new French arts teacher
8. a perfect new system
9. a fantastic 18th century Scottish castle
10. A horrible greedy businessman
11. a big old brown bear
12. a self-righteous middle-class citizen
13. a nasty spoilt little boy
14. a gorgeous blond-haired American girl