UNIT 2GRAMMAR: ADJECTIVE ORDER
The noun: The word that is receiving the adjectives.NOUN
A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with "-ing". Examples: sleeping (as in "sleeping bag")Purpose
A material adjective describes what something is made from. Examples:wooden, metal, cotton, paper Material
An origin adjective describes where something comes from. Examples:French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek Origin
A colour adjective, of course, describes the colour of something. Examples:blue, pink, reddish, grey Colour
A shape adjective describes the shape of something. Examples:square, round, flat, rectangular Shape
An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is. Examples:ancient, new, young, old Age
A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is. Examples:large, tiny, enormous, little Size
An opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with you). Examples:silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult
Opinion
The determiner: to inform if the adjective is singular or plural, definite or indefinite, next or far. Examples: a car, an apple, the book, the flowers, this man, that woman, these computers, those teachers.Determiner
All you need to know about THE ADJECTIVE ORDER
O
OPINION
BeautifulHandsomeDisgustingCute
SSIZE
ShortTall
AAGE
OldYoung
Middle- aged30 year-old
SShape
FatSlimStoutPlump
CCOLOR
WhiteBlack
BrunetteBlond
Tanned
OOrigin
MexicanAmerican
BritishIndian
Peruvian
ONLYTHINGS
MMATERIAL
StoneLeatherFabricWoolSilk
OPINION SIZE AGE SHAPE COLOUR ORIGIN MATERIAL NOUN
That healthy big young stout redhead guy
The short middle-aged
thin Mexican lady
A lovely short black wool skirt
A cute little newborn fat black American baby
A beautiful new grey Colombian synthetic bag
Those noisy young black kids
A pretty tall plump brunette Canadian girl
My favourite long red leather boots
Some old blue jeans
EXAMPLES
More examples of adjective order
bagsleepingyellowsmalla
bowlmetalroundhugea
manBrazilianyounghandsomea
NOUNPurposeMaterialOriginColourShapeAgeSizeOpinionDeterminer
EXTRA TASK:Work in pairs and describe some celebrities
without mentioning their names.e.g. He's a fantastic young Scottish tennis
player (Andy Murray)AIM: to guess the name of the person you are
describing.
