PEARTREE LIFE: Experiencing Languages

Adjective Order in English

Our new topic this week is the adjective order in English phrases.
It is a very interesting feature of the English language that can actually cause some trouble to your speaking performance!


Though unknowingly, native speakers use a special order to put the adjectives describing a noun into an order. With enough practise and exposure to natural language use, it is not that hard to adopt this style for your own benefit.

The natural order of adjectives is:
Quantity or number
Quality or opinion
Size
Age
Shape
Color
Proper adjective (often nationality, other places of origin, or material)
Purpose or qualifier

Example:
This is my beautiful tall girlfriend. (opinion, size)
Where did you put the three old huge towels? (quantity, quality, size)
Please send me a picture of these fifty great blue flowers! (quantity, quality, colour)

Take a look at the infographic below from Woodward English which gives you an easy overview of the categories and some examples!


Source: http://www.grammar.cl/english/adjectives-word-order.htm

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Peartree Languages is a language school located in Cardiff.

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