The order of adjectives in English. Correct order of adjectives in English: rules and examples

Often, studying adjectives does not cause any difficulties, but in any question there are pitfalls. So, for those who still experience difficulties in this topic, in this note we will analyze in detail the order of adjectives in English.

Type of adjectives

Everyone has learned since school that an adjective is a part of speech that describes objects, objects and other nouns. Majority English adjectives comes before the described member of the sentence. Traditionally, English distinguishes between objective and subjective adjectives.

• Objective adjectives are those that reflect facts, objective characteristics. For example, a brick house. It is a fact that the house is made of brick.
• Subjective ones convey a subjective assessment, personal perception of the described object.

Therefore, to describe the order of adjectives in an English sentence, a scheme is often used: subjective adjectives come first (because they are less important), then objective adjectives (because they are more important), then the noun.

What's going on?

But what if one noun is described by several adjectives? For this case there are more detailed diagram, which will help you decide in what order to place adjectives. Let's look at it:

1. So, first place is given to adjectives denoting a general opinion/impression, such as expensive, smart, delicious;
2. The next group determines the size: tiny (large\big), small (small);
3. Analyzing the order of adjectives in English, the third place is given to the adjective denoting age: young (young), old (old);
4. The fourth position is occupied by adjectives indicating shape: square;
5. Next come adjectives denoting colors: yellow;
6. This group consists of adjectives of origin: Russian;
7. This group includes adjectives that describe the material from which the item is made: brick;
8. And finally, the last (that is, the closest to the noun) are adjectives denoting the purpose: for cooking (cooking), for cleaning (cleaning).

Thus, you see that the order of adjectives in English is built according to the importance of the adjective. In this regard, paragraphs 3, 4, 5 can be swapped if the speaker wants to emphasize any quality of the subject. The main rule: than more significant sign, the closer it is to the object.

Subtleties to remember when arranging adjectives

• If there are several adjectives of the same category, a comma is required between them;
• If there is an adjective in the superlative or comparative degree, it takes first position;
• A group of adjectives that describe a measure can be placed after a noun (a nice building 24 meters high - a beautiful 24-meter building).

It is advisable to observe the order of adjectives in English, although not all authors and do not always follow it. At the very least, you need to know that such a procedure exists and adhere to it when writing essays in English. At the end of this article there is a small exercise that will help you understand and consolidate the order of adjectives in English. Practice is the best remedy for language learning.

We know that it is defined quite strictly. What about adjectives, of which there may be several? First of all, use more than two or three adjectives together not recommended but, if you really want to, try to arrange them in an order that is understandable to the English.

Your opinion, impression or assessment comes first

When you want to describe an object with several adjectives, first of all think about your attitude towards it: beautiful, useful, important, interesting, tasty, etc. These adjectives are usually placed first in English. If there are two of them, then the more objective one is put first.

a cute little girl
an intelligent old man
delicious French food
a lovely intelligent dog

Next, the order of adjectives in English follows the following scheme:

Some explanations on the diagram.

How big? - what size, length, shape, width?

Adjectives size And length(big/small/tall/short/long) usually come before adjectives forms And width(round/thick/thin/slim/wide)

a big square box
a short slim woman
a long avenue
a big fat bear

How old? - what age?

a nice old film
a huge antique book
a handsome young man
a beautiful newborn baby girl

What color? - what color?

Two adjectives of color are joined by a word and, three or more adjectives of color are separated by a comma, the last one is preceded by and:

a green and yellow fruit
a green, brown and red flag
a white, gray and green dress

Where from? — where are you from?

cute Russian children
a famous English tower
the blue, white and red French flag

What is it made of? - what is it made of?

a large red plastic bag
an ancient wooden horse
fantastic Thai vegetarian food

Exercises on the order of adjectives in English

Adjective order

Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct position

Start Quiz

Does it ever happen to you that when you are describing something, one adjective is not enough for you? Does it happen that even two or three are not enough?

Has it ever happened that when you hear or read a sentence in English, you feel that there is “something wrong” with it? This feeling may arise because the order of words in the sentence is disturbed, because in the English language, where everything has its own order, the order of words is very important.

And before speaking or writing, it is useful to think a little about what order is best to arrange adjectives if there is more than one.

The place of an adjective in a sentence is before the noun it describes. But if there are several adjectives, then its order is determined by its meaning, so we divide adjectives into three categories. This classification is simplified; we present it to make it easier for you to understand the order of using adjectives before nouns. If you are interested in a scientific theoretical approach, then you better turn to a textbook on theoretical grammar :)

So, we will look at three categories into which adjectives can be divided by meaning.

Descriptive adjectives ( descriptive or qualitative adjectives ) convey a sign of an object, which can manifest itself to a greater or lesser extent. These include:

adjectives meaning size(Size): small, large, big, tiny;
color(Colour): red, white, blue, green;
adjectives meaning age(Age): young, old, recent, ancient;
adjectives meaning form(Shape): round, square, long, heart-shaped;
adjectives meaning emotions(Emotions): sad, glad, happy, upset.

In addition, descriptive adjectives also include those that describe material (Material): wooden, silk, leather, metal and origin (Origin): American, Russian, Latin. Although the last two types are sometimes classified as the next category of adjectives.

Highlight classifying adjectives which refer the noun to a certain class. For example, this category includes adjectives that refer a noun to a specific area: political, linguistic, economic, musical.

These adjectives generally have and do not have degrees of comparison? since an item can only belong to one class. The phrases sound quite strange: more musical instrument, less pedagogical report and the like. Although there are exceptions where authors may specifically use classifying adjectives in comparative or superlatives to achieve a certain stylistic effect.

And another important category is adjectives that characterize the personal opinion, judgment or assessment of the speaker ( opinion adjectives ): good, bad, excellent, terrible. Compared to descriptive and classifying adjectives, opinion adjectives may change depending on the speaker’s opinion: for some the dish is tasty, for others it is not, for some the picture seems beautiful, for others it is terrible.

This category can include: adjectives that express a qualitative assessment ( Personal opinion and quality ): beautiful, nice, pleasant, cheap, good, bad, excellent, terrible and so on; adjectives denoting sensations (Senses): tasty, cold, hot, smooth.

Now we come directly to our topic: the order of using adjectives before nouns. You just need to remember a few simple rules to always use adjectives in a sentence correctly.

Rule No. 1. First the description, then the class.

Descriptive adjectives come before classifying adjectives:

Rule #2. Rating before description.

If one of the adjectives expresses a judgment, assessment or opinion, then the place of this adjective is before the one that gives the description:

Rule No. 3. Order of descriptive adjectives.

What if all adjectives are descriptive? The order of their use before a noun is quite flexible, but there is a certain sequence and patterns. For example, adjectives denoting material and origin always come last. Of course, it is unnatural to immediately put five or six adjectives in front of a noun, but two or three is a very real phenomenon. In English, this order must be observed; even if there are no adjectives with any of these meanings, it is not violated:

						Material
							curtains

Accordingly, if, along with descriptive ones, there are classifying or evaluative adjectives, then rules 1 and 2 apply.

	beautiful		tropical

In place of the article, adjectives can be preceded by a numeral if you indicate quantity:

two thick grammar books
the first useful computer program

And when you need to use a numeral before adjectives, put it first ordinal, and after quantitative:

the first two important grammar rules
the first ten international students

The same rule applies to words last, next and the like:

the next three sunny hot days
his last two popular online projects

And the last point: commas. When multiple adjectives are used in a row, there is a huge temptation to separate them with commas. This is true if the adjectives provide homogeneous information about the characteristics of the subject:

a popular, well-organised, informative event
a delicious, flavored, spicy dish

If the adjectives are short and common, then commas can be omitted:

a nice sunny calm day or a nice, sunny, calm day

The English language is a language full of squiggles and tricks. But don't be afraid of its snags! You just have to figure it out and understand once, and that’s it - you’re already familiar with these tricks, you’re already on first-name terms with all the squiggles!

You've probably heard about such a phenomenon as the arrangement of adjectives in an English sentence. Today we will talk about exactly this. On our website we have already talked about the topic of word order in an English sentence, today we are talking about the order of adjectives. If in Russian everything is often arbitrary, then in English this is far from the case. In Russian, free expression of thoughts is allowed, but in English, sentences must be written and pronounced, clearly following a strict pattern.

It's the same with adjectives. The speaker may mention two, three or more adjectives before the noun, such as: “We bought a big, beautiful, brick house.” In English, these adjectives must be in a certain order because each of them has its own meaning. Let's figure out what's what and why all this!

What adjectives are found in English?

In English, there are quite often cases when you need to use two, three, or more adjectives to characterize a noun. To do this correctly, you need to follow correct order adjectives in a sentence. Typically, two or three adjectives are used, but exceptions occur when the speaker uses five or more adjectives to characterize a noun. This happens more often in writing.

Before we start practicing and show you this using examples of English sentences, let’s first figure out what type and meaning adjectives are in English.

So, the characteristic or description of a noun begins with an article, and then, directly, adjectives and the noun itself:

• Article or other determinant)- a, the, his, this
• Opinion, grade) - good, bad, wonderful, terrible, nice
• Size) - large, big, small, little, tiny
• Age) - new, old, young
• Shape) - square, round, oval
• Color) - red, yellow, green, blue, violet
• Origin) — French, lunar, Polish, American, eastern, Greek
• Material) - wooden, cotton, metal, paper
• Purpose - sleeping, cooking

This is the order in which adjectives appear in an English sentence. If the sentence lacks any adjective from these categories, then the one that corresponds to the next category in order comes next. Please note:

• AsillyyoungEnglishwoman
  Stupid young Englishwoman
  article, rating, age, origin
• Ahugeroundplasticbowl
  Huge round plastic bowl
  article, size, shape, material

Father's big green sleeping bag
Dad's big green sleeping bag
identifier, size, color, purpose

Now pay attention to the example English sentences, which uses all of the following types of adjectives in the correct order:

• Pretty tiny new plumpish brown British plush playing teddy bear.

Of course, the English don't use that many adjectives in a sentence, we just gave an example in which this can be seen. And you, friends, we do not advise you to overload your sentences with adjectives, in order to avoid unnecessary mistakes.

Let's build a diagram of adjectives!

In order to better and more effectively remember the order of adjectives in English sentences, we need a certain scheme that will help us with this. Based on the information already available, we will build this scheme together with you!

So, the arrangement of adjectives in an English sentence:

It will probably be quite difficult to learn this scheme by heart. But you're not going to use that many adjectives in sentences. Just draw it in your English notebook and separate sheet paper, and when necessary, when you are doing certain exercises, use it as a hint.

A few more rules...

Well, friends, we hope you have mastered the order of adjectives in English sentences! Now you need to familiarize yourself with some details of their use:

• Usually, more than three Adjectives in a row are not used in an English sentence, most often - no more than two ( a big whiteball, a beautiful old brickbuilding);
• if a noun is preceded by two or more adjectives from the same group, then the conjunction ‘and’ is placed between them ( Theball isgreen and orange.);
• if there are three or more adjectives from the same group before a noun, they must be separated by commas ( He found a black, red andorange clock.);
• some adjectives are used only after a linking verb ( alive, sure, sorry, ill, afraid, unable, ready);
• some of the adjectives ending in '-ed' are also used only after linking verbs ( bored, thrilled, annoyed, pleased).

These rules should be taken into account when constructing a sentence with several adjectives characterizing a noun.

We hope that you have mastered the material and learned a lot of useful information regarding this topic. See you again!

The order of adjectives in English is one of the biggest difficulties students face. Luckily, this isn't that hard to fix.

Even a beginner will have no problem adding an adjective to the application. The problems start when these .

In English, adjectives are not placed randomly - any teacher will tell you this. But what exactly influences their order? The category to which the adjective belongs.

Adjectives are divided into those that indicate quantity, characteristic, size, temperature, age, shape, color, origin, material and purpose of an object or object. Sounds too complicated? Don't worry, we'll look at each category in more detail now.

1. Quantity.

The first are those adjectives that indicate the number of objects or items. These include both numbers (one ( one), quarter ( a quarter), one hundred ( a hundred), and adjectives like “a lot” ( many), "few" ( a few), "a couple of pieces" ( a couple of), etc.

If we are talking about a single noun, we can use the article a or an to indicate that we are talking about a single object: for example, a chair- armchair.

1. Characteristic.

These are those adjectives that help you understand how you or someone else perceives a subject or object. They usually reflect a subjective opinion: wonderful ( wonderful), unusual ( unusual), delicious ( tasty). Example: a wonderful chair- a wonderful chair.

1. Size.

They are followed by adjectives that indicate size: huge ( huge), tiny ( tiny), small ( small). Example: a wonderful little chair - a wonderful little chair.

However, there is an exception - this word big(big), which in English is often used before adjectives characterizing an object. The most common example is the big bad wolf(big bad wolf) from the fairy tale "The Three Little Pigs".

1. Temperature.

The sentence then uses adjectives that indicate temperature: cold ( cold), cool ( cool), warm ( warm), hot ( hot), etc. Example: a wonderful little cold chair- a wonderful, small, cold chair.

1. Age.

Age is not just a number. This category includes adjectives that indicate the era or period of time when an object or object existed (or was created): new ( new), young ( young), ancient ( ancient), prehistoric ( prehistoric), etc. Example: a wonderful little cold antique chair - a wonderful, small, cold, ancient chair.

1. Form.

Adjectives that denote the shape of an object or object are “round” ( round), "square" ( square), etc. Example: a wonderful little cold antique square chair - a wonderful, small, cold, ancient, square chair.

1. Color.

Adjectives that describe color are "brown" ( brown), "silver" ( silver), "pink" ( pink), etc. Interestingly, they purely include those adjectives that indicate the color of hair or coat - for example, “blond” ( blonde). Example: a wonderful little cold antique square red chair - a wonderful, small, cold, ancient, square, red chair.

1. Origin.

These are those adjectives that indicate where a thing or object came from - for example, "American" ( American), "British" ( British), "Australian" ( Australian), "Danish" ( Dutch), etc. Example: a wonderful little cold antique square red American chair - a wonderful, small, cold, ancient, square, red, American chair.

1. Material.

Everything is simple here - such adjectives indicate the material from which the item or object is made: wooden ( wood), metal ( metal), paper ( paper), rubber ( rubber), etc. Example: a wonderful little cold antique square red American wood chair - a wonderful, small, cold, ancient, square, red, American, wooden chair.

1. Purpose.

And the last are adjectives that indicate the purpose of an object or object - that is, they make it clear what it is used for. A tennis ball is used for tennis, a teaspoon is used for tea, etc. Example: a wonderful little cold antique square red American wood rocking chair - a wonderful, small, cold, ancient, square, red, American, wooden rocking chair.

Of course, even in English there are exceptions to the rule. In addition, the order of adjectives can also be influenced by the variety of English (British may differ from American and Australian, for example). But in general, adjectives in a sentence are arranged in this way.

Why are there no commas between adjectives?

When several adjectives from different categories are used in a sentence, they are considered homogeneous (cumulative) adjectives ( cumulative adjectives). There are no commas between such adjectives.

But if you use multiple adjectives from the same category, you will need to put commas between them, and the order of such adjectives will not matter.

For example:

The stupid, pointless, frustrating homework assignment! - This is a stupid, pointless, frustrating homework assignment!

All adjectives in this sentence indicate a characteristic of an object, so you need to put commas between them. They can also be arranged in a different order and this will not make the sentence sound bad.

How to choose adjectives?

The “wonderful, small, cold, ancient, square, red, American, wooden rocking chair” example used above probably seems strange to you. Fortunately, such sentences are not commonly used in English - which is why you will have to choose your adjectives very carefully.

Try to remember the categories of adjectives described above and their order. And when you use adjectives in speech, think about which ones you really need to use and which ones you can do without.

Take for example the following phrase:

A magnificent huge newly-opened blue water swimming pool - Stunning, huge, newly opened, blue water pool.

Not all adjectives are worth using here: everyone already knows that there is water in swimming pools and that they are blue. But the chairs from the example above are made not only from wood and come in different colors.

Remember that when using adjectives, your main task is to give the interlocutor information that he does not already possess. Therefore, avoid obvious characteristics and use those that will allow the interlocutor to recreate the most detailed image of the object or object.

The best way to do this is to choose two, three or four adjectives. Plus, it will be much easier for you to arrange them in a sentence.

We hope these rules were clear to you. To remember them better, try to practice as often as possible and pay attention to how native speakers use adjectives: this will make it easier for you to remember all the details.