Adjective List

An adjective is a word that describes a noun. It gives more information about an object, person, or place, making sentences more detailed. It can add a touch of creativity to sentences and make them much more interesting.

The Correct Order of Adjectives

When using multiple adjectives, they usually follow a specific order: (Note, these also start with a determiner such as the, these, ours, yours etc)

Quantity – one, two, several

Opinion – lovely, ugly, amazing

Size – big, small, tiny

Age – old, new, young

Shape – round, square, thin

Colour – red, blue, golden

Origin – French, Japanese, New Zealand

Material – wooden, plastic, metal

Purpose – running (shoes), baking (tray)

For example:

Three small old wooden chairs (follows the order correctly)

Three wooden, old, small chairs (sounds wrong!)

A useful tip is that opinion adjectives (what you think about something) usually come before fact adjectives (like size, age, and material).

According to Grammarly, no one really knows about ‘why’ this is the order. Grammarly writes: “It’s an unsatisfying answer, but it’s the only answer: We don’t really know. However, there are a few theories. One is that the closer an adjective sits to its noun, the more vital it is to the noun’s description. For example, referring to a house as a “brick house” is more specific than referring to it as an “old house” or a “beautiful house.” But this theory doesn’t always hold up. To use another example, compare “small dog” to “black dog.” Is a black dog really a more specific description than a small dog?

Like other English language quirks, adjective order is one you just have to roll with”