The Order of Adjectives

Sometimes it's not enough to describe a noun using only one adjective; you may want to use a series of adjectives. But in which order would you place these adjectives? Would you say a 'tiny green plastic box' or a 'green tiny plastic box'? And how would you describe this car? Is it a 'beautiful new red German sports car', or a 'German red new beautiful sports car'?

In both cases, the first example is correct. Perhaps you can hear that the second sentence doesn't sound quite right? But do you know the rules? The observant reader will also have noticed that there are no commas in between the adjectives. Why not?

Coordinate adjectives are two or more adjectives that separately describe – or modify – the noun of a sentence, and they are usually of equal importance. Coordinate adjectives are separated by the word 'and' or they're separated with commas.

Take a look at the following sentences. All of these sentences are correct and mean the same thing.

In these sentences, the adjectives 'happy' and 'lively' both independently modify 'dog' (the noun). It doesn’t matter which order they come in; the sentence still makes perfect sense. Also, they are of equal importance – one characteristic is not more prominent than the other.

Here are a few more example of sentences with coordinate adjectives. In these sentences, you can choose whether you would like to use a comma or to use ‘and’ to connect the adjectives – it's up to you. Also, the adjectives can swap places, and the sentence will still make sense.

Sentences can also contain cumulative adjectives, and they behave differently. Cumulative adjectives describe, not only the noun itself but also the combination of the following adjective and the noun. They build upon one another to modify the noun.

Take a look at this sentence:

In this sentence, 'two' and 'happy' are modifying the noun 'dogs' differently. 'Happy' is modifying just the word 'dogs', while 'two' is modifying the phrase 'happy dogs'.

Notice that you don't use commas between cumulative adjectives.

As you add more adjectives, you will build up meaning from word to word as they get closer to the noun:

• Two happy dogs.

• Two happy small dogs.

• Two happy small brown dogs.

Unlike coordinate adjectives, cumulative adjectives are not randomly placed – they follow a specific order that cannot be altered without changing the meaning of the sentence. Native speakers would know this order instinctively and may not even be aware that a rule exists until they hear a sentence where the rule is broken. But this can often be tricky for English learners.

Changing the order of cumulative adjectives would often destroy the meaning of the sentence. For example, it is impossible to change the order of the adjectives in the example with the two happy dogs:

Cumulative adjectives appear in a specific order based on the category they belong to. This order is as follows: determiner/quantity, opinion, size/measurement, age, shape, colour, origin (nationality, religion), material, purpose.

Here are a few examples of sentences using cumulative adjectives. Pay attention to the order in which they are placed.

Before you move on to the tasks, watch this video from Khan Academy. It will give you more information about the use of commas and the different categories of adjectives.

Link to 'Commas and Adjectives' from Khan Academy