comma between the adjs makes me confused

[manar222]

hello members

i hope to find an answer to my Q:roll:

i noticed that sometimes we tend to put commas between the adjectives when they follow each other when they describe one noun ,, and sometimes i found nothing in between

so does anyone now the rule for that ;-)

best wishes

 

[sarat_106]

hello members

i hope to find an answer to my Q:roll:

i noticed that sometimes we tend to put commas between the adjectives when they follow each other when they describe one noun ,, and sometimes i found nothing in between

so does anyone now the rule for that ;-)

best wishes

Welcome to the forum.
You do not need ‘comma’ between adjectives when a noun is preceded by many different type of attributive adjectives. In the following example, the attributive adjectives are underlined.
e.g. Two large red cardboard milk cartons.
In this example, two is a cardinal number, large is an adjective indicating size, red is an adjective indicating color, cardboard is an adjective indicating a type of material, and milk is a defining adjective indicating purpose.

However, when you use more than two predicate adjective, a comma is necessary after the first and the last being joined by conjunction ‘and’.. as:
The weather is clear, cold and dry.

 

[manar222]

hiiiii sarat thanx a lot for ur welcoming me and fro ur resopnse also

but how about if i want to say

clear , cold and dry weather

is that ok ?

another thing what is "the predicate adjective"

and again thanx a lot ur reply is so sufficient

best of luck

 

[sarat_106]

hiiiii sarat thanx a lot for ur welcoming me and fro ur resopnse also

but how about if i want to say

clear , cold and dry weather

is that ok ?

another thing what is "the predicate adjective"

and again thanx a lot ur reply is so sufficient

best of luck

No. you can not use that way, because the adjectives clear, cold and dry are preceded by a noun ‘weather’. There should be no comma.
However, please note that since ‘weather’ is a singular noun the adjectives can be combined as one word by the use of hyphens.
e.g. a three-month-old baby
a ninety-dollar jacket
a dry-cold-clear weather

 

[manar222]

aha thanx sarat:-D


got it:up:

best wishes

 

[emsr2d2]

Welcome to the forum.
You do not need ‘comma’ between adjectives when a noun is preceded by many different type of attributive adjectives. In the following example, the attributive adjectives are underlined.
e.g. Two large red cardboard milk cartons.
In this example, two is a cardinal number, large is an adjective indicating size, red is an adjective indicating color, cardboard is an adjective indicating a type of material, and milk is a defining adjective indicating purpose.

However, when you use more than two predicate adjective, a comma is necessary after the first and the last being joined by conjunction ‘and’.. as:
The weather is clear, cold and dry.

I appear to have come rather late to this thread! Not too late, I hope. Commas are used between each adjective until you reach the last one.

With your first sentence, it should read:

Two large, red, cardboard milk cartons = There are two milk cartons and they are large, red and made of cardboard.

With your second sentence:

The weather is clear, cold and dry.

This is correct. You have three separate adjectives all following the verb "to be", therefore the first two are separated by a comma and the second and third are joined by the word "and".

 

[emsr2d2]

No. you can not use that way, because the adjectives clear, cold and dry are preceded by a noun ‘weather’. There should be no comma.
However, please note that since ‘weather’ is a singular noun the adjectives can be combined as one word by the use of hyphens.
e.g. a three-month-old baby
a ninety-dollar jacket
a dry-cold-clear weather

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with your third example. Weather does not take the indefinite article, it is simply "weather", and you cannot join these three adjectives together with hyphens!

We are having dry, cold, clear weather.

OR

The weather is dry, cold and clear.

 

[Barb_D]

a dry-cold-clear weather

I'm sorry, but I need to point out that this is entirely wrong.

You can say "a clear, cold, dry day."
You can say "the clear, cold, dry weather."
You cannot say "a dry-cold-clear weather."


Generally, I use commas BEFORE the noun when the adjectives are of the same type. That is, both clear and cold give qualities of the day, but not is size, color, shape, material, or number. When I use a series of adjectives that all describe a different aspect of the object, I usually omit the commas.

That is, "a big red wooden box" wouldn't have commas for me because those words describe, respectively, size, color, and material. However, "a soft, cuddly stuffed animal" would have a comma because "soft" and "cuddly" both describe how the animal feels -- the same aspect of the description.

When the adjectives come AFTER the noun, they get commas. The box was big, red, and wooden.


EDIT: I see I was objecting at the same time as the poster above -- I just took longer to get there! Sorry to be redundant.

 

[manar222]

emsr

ummm :roll:, so when we can put commas in between and when we can't do so

in ur examples u put commas between the adjectives that come after the noun and before the noun

i'm confused :-?

 

[manar222]

bar

in this sentence "a soft, cuddly stuffed animal"

why don't u put " and " or a comma between " cuddly and stuffed " since they r adjectives

best of luck

 

[Barb_D]

I actually think of "stuffed animal" as a single unit. It's a child's toy in the shape of an animal with fake fur and stuffing inside. Those words are never separated. It was a bad choice for this discussion.

Let me try something else:

A chewy, delicious treat.
A delicious chocolate dessert.

(I wouldn't find it wrong if someone else included the commas, as suggested above. I can't say it's ever WRONG to include them, but I think they are unnecessary when the adjectives are all in different categories.)

 

[emsr2d2]

emsr

ummm :roll:, so when we can put commas in between and when we can't do so

in ur examples u put commas between the adjectives that come after the noun and before the noun

i'm confused :-?

I have a feeling this is going to be a long thread, so I will try to condense this as much as possible.

If you were to put the word "and" between each adjective, you would end up with a very long sentence. Let's go back to the first sentence. I think you would agree that:

A big and red and wooden box

is a messy sentence, with the word "and" used too often. When I was at school (!) I was taught that a comma, in this context, replaces the word "and". Therefore, "a big, red, wooden box". I realise that this disagrees with Barb's opinion on the subject!

When the adjectives are of equal importance, they should be separated with a comma:

Commas with Adjectives

Purdue OWL (see point 6)

Commas with Paired Adjectives

With Barb's second example, the reason there is no comma before the word "stuffed" is because "stuffed animal" is the main noun that the adjectives are being used to describe.

As far as I am concerned, the "comma to replace and" rule applies whether the adjectives come before the noun or after it.

I'm hoping another native English speaker/teacher will chime in too, as I think we may find differing opinions on this topic!

 

[manar222]

"a big, red, wooden box".

in my book , it's written " she has long brown curly hair " without any commas

...............

ok see this i want to say

Most of crimes have a preceded , elaborate plan
or
Most of crimes have a preceded and elaborate plan
or
Most of crimes have a preceded elaborate plan

which one is correct ?

 

[Barb_D]

Most crimes have a premeditated and elaborate plan. Okay
Most crimes have a premeditated, elaborate plan. Okay.
Most crimes have a premeditated elaborate plan. -- This one needs a comma or an "and" because the adjectives are of the same importance and fall into the same category.

 

[manar222]

aha so we can conclude that by saying

concerning the predicate adjectives , we have to put commas in between and " and " between the two lat ajdactives

e.g : her hair is long , brown and curly

concerning the attributive adjectives , there are 2 stituations

1- if the adjectives fall into the same category , we have to put comma

e.g : a wonderful , fabulous and beneficial topic

2- if the adjectives have different types , we don't have to put commas

e.g: she has long brown curly hair


is that right ?

if the rule has to be refined , go ahead :up:

 

[Barb_D]

I think that will cover you in MOST situations. There will always be exceptions or things that just don't seem to read right, even though they follow that rule.

 

[BobK]

bar

in this sentence "a soft, cuddly stuffed animal"

why don't u put " and " or a comma between " cuddly and stuffed " since they r adjectives

best of luck

You do put a comma there! There would be a hyphen there if cuddly were a noun - for example you could have a 'kapok-stuffed animal', but 'cuddly' as you rightly say is an adjective.

b

 

[emsr2d2]

You do put a comma there! There would be a hyphen there if cuddly were a noun - for example you could have a 'kapok-stuffed animal', but 'cuddly' as you rightly say is an adjective.

b

Interesting! Yet another point of view. I must admit I agreed with Barb's original explanation that, in this case, the "stuffed animal" behaves like a single noun (even though stuffed is an adjective), simply because "a stuffed animal" is such a common phrase for a toy. On that basis, I too would leave out the comma after cuddly.

 

[manar222]

thanx all for passing by

have a nice day

 

[BobK]

Interesting! Yet another point of view. I must admit I agreed with Barb's original explanation that, in this case, the "stuffed animal" behaves like a single noun (even though stuffed is an adjective), simply because "a stuffed animal" is such a common phrase for a toy. On that basis, I too would leave out the comma after cuddly.

I agree with Barb too. Stuffed animal does behave like a single noun. But if you had one stuffed with kapok, it would be a bit of a mouthful to call it 'a kapok-stuffed stuffed animal' ;-). The hyphenated noun-adj adjective is more common in a phrase like 'fondant*-filled chocolate egg' (no idea why that example came to mind ;-))

b
PS *To add to the fun, I've just noticed that this noun is itself an adjective implying another noun - 'fondant cream'.