1. ADJECTIVE ORDER
and other words that come before
nouns
EVA

2. Article, Possessive, Quantifier,
Number, or Demonstrative First!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
a/an
the
my
their
some
many
any
this
those
etc.

3. Number after article (or in place
of)
• Three (e.g., The three students at the
front of the class were early.)
• First (e.g., The one thing I learned was
how to smile.)
• Many- used with plurals (e.g., There are
many mountains in Canada.)
• Some- usually used with uncountable
nouns (e.g., I would like some water.)

4. First Orders
•
•
•
•
•
•
Possessive OR article- a/n, the
first, next and last (previous)
numbers-one, two, three, etc.
The first three days
His last two jobs
My next holiday

5. Next-Opinions before Facts!
• 'OPINION' ADJECTIVES
•
Adjectives like beautiful and nice are
opinion adjectives. They tell us what
you think about somebody or
something.
• 'FACT' ADJECTIVES
•
Adjectives like new, large, and blue
are fact adjectives. They give us
factual information about age, size, and
color.

6. Examples of opinion before fact:
• - an interesting (opinion) old (fact)
•
•
•
•
•
book
- some refreshing (o) cool (f ) water
- A nice (o) Spanish (f) guitar
- A delicious (o) chocolate (f) cake
- a pair of classy (o) leather (f) shoes
- A beautiful (opinion) small (f) yellow
(f) Chinese (f) doll

7. Fact Adjectives (there are many, many
categories – here are some of them):
• SIZE: How big? Large, small, tiny,
enormous
• AGE: How old? New, young, old,
ancient
• SHAPE: What shape? Square, round,
rectangular, flat
• COLOUR: What color? Blue, pink,
yellow, green
• ORIGIN: Where from? Thai, Canadian,
American, Chinese
• MATERIAL: What it is made of? Plastic,
metal, glass, wooden
• PURPOSE : What it is used for? Racing

8. Adjective Order (examples):
• a wonderful old Italian clock (opinion -
age - origin)
• two big square blue boxes (dimension -
shape - color)
• fresh blue cotton sheets (opinion -
color - material)
• a pair of slim new French pants
(dimension - age - origin)

9. Although there are exceptions, adjectives of
size and shape often come first.
• The round glass table (NOT the glass
round table)
• A big, modern brick house (NOT a
modern, big brick house)
• A pair of Long steel poles
• A tall, ancient oak tree

10. Adjectives of color, origin, material
and purpose usually go in that order.
• Color origin material purpose noun
red
Spanish leather riding boots
brown German
beer
mug
Venetian glass flower vase

11. Too Much to Remember?
• Probably, but practice will help
• Try not to use too many
adjectives at once!
• If you can’t remember, use a
chart!