Order
of Adjectives
There is a conventional order of
adjectives when more than one is used to modify a noun.
| Size | Age | Opinion | Color | Material | Origin | Purpose |
| big | old | ugly | red | leather | Mexican | riding |
-
She was wearing big old ugly red
leather Mexican riding boots.
Note: it is very unusual to use
this many adjectives in a string. This is for illustration. Here are some
more "normal" illustrations:
| a big red balloon | an old foreign car |
| a sharp hunting knife | a beautiful white horse |
Here are some adjectives of size:
| big | small | tall | short |
| skinny | fat | tiny | huge |
| medium-sized | miniature | enormous | long |
| short | little | large |
Age:
| old | young | ancient | new-born |
| middle-aged | teen-aged | infant | two-year-old |
| elderly |
Opinion:
| beautiful | ugly | intelligent | stupid |
| dumb | evil | angelic | lazy |
| industrious | nice | bad | good |
Color:
| red | green | blue | yellow |
| white | black | orange | purple |
| pink | pinkish | grey | etc. |
Material:
| leather | wood | brick | steel |
| rubber | linoleum | rattan | mud |
| earthen | aluminum | ceramic | plastic |
| glass | paper | cotton | silk |
| wool | woolen | polyester | linen |
Purpose:
| hunting | writing | swimming | driving |
| running | listening | riding | walking |