A Grammar Lesson
From the English Zone
Click here to skip the lesson and go right to the adjective order exercise.
What is an adjective?
Adjectives are words that describe a noun:
interesting, beautiful, lovely, exciting, fun, old , etc.

 
Adjective Position:
1) Adjectives can be used before the noun:
  • He's an old soldier.
  • They're intelligent students.
    That's an expensive car.
    		•  2) Adjectives can be used after a linking verb:
  • The soldier is old.
  • The students seem intelligent.
    The car looks expensive.

    •  
    Adjective Order:
    The adjectives in the table below follow this order:
  • Opinion or Observation -- beautiful, ugly, easy, fast, interesting, boring, etc.
  • Size -- small, tall, short, big, enormous, huge, tiny, etc.
  • Age -- young, old, new, historic, ancient, etc.
  • Shape -- round, square, rectangular, etc.
  • Color -- red, black, green, purple, etc.
  • Nationality -- French, Asian, American, Canadian, Japanese, etc.
  • Material -- wooden, metallic, plastic, glass, paper, etc.
  • Purpose or Qualifier -- foldout sofa, fishing boat, racing car, etc.

    •  
    ADJECTIVE ORDER CHART
     Opinion   Size   Age   Shape   Color   Nationality  Material   Purpose   Noun 
    expensive small       German   racing car
    pretty   antique       gold   mirror
      tiny   round yellow       flowers
      long     blonde       hair
      medium   square       checker board
      little     blue   cardboard doll house
    strong   young     American   baseball player
    tasty         Italian     food
    noisy   4-year-old   white Siamese     cat

     
    Summary:
    An expensive small German racing car
    A pretty antique gold mirror
    Some tiny round yellow flowers
    Long blonde hair
    A medium square checker board
    A little blue cardboard doll house
    A strong young American baseball player
    Some tasty Italian food
    A noisy 4-year-old white Siamese cat
    Now it's your turn to try.
    Click here to do an adjective order exercise.

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