Order of adjectives

[ratóncolorao]

Hello,

As far as I know, the usual order of adjectives is:

opinion - age - size/shape - temperature - colour - origin - material - purpose + noun


However, I have seen a new list of adjectives that goes as follow:

Opinion - size or ___________, texture, pattern or ___________, ___________+ noun

I think the book where I have seen this list makes a reference to: patterns, shape, texture, materials and "others" - including, in this last category, adjectives such as "high-heeled" and "long-sleeved".

So, I wonder if you could help me out with this new (for me) list of adjectives. Obviously, I don't know which type of adjective should go in the different gaps.

Thank you for your help.

 

[ratóncolorao]

Hello again,

Could it be listed as:

Opinion, size or shape, texture, pattern or texture, colour + noun ?

Anyway, adjectives such as "high-heeled" or "long-sleeved" where should they go?

Thank you.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hello again,

Could it be listed as:

Opinion, size or shape, texture, pattern or texture, colour + noun ?

Anyway, adjectives such as "high-heeled" or "long-sleeved" where should they go?

Thank you.

"A blue, size 38, long-sleeved woollen sweater." Is that what you mean?

 

[ratóncolorao]

"A blue, size 38, long-sleeved woollen sweater." Is that what you mean?

Yes, I was asking if I am right listing the adjective that way...

Thank you. Your example is great. :-D

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER


(1) The order of adjectives confuses me, too.

(2) I found two more lists that might give you some added insight.

(3) They are both credited to The Grammar Book by Mesdames Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman.

1.determiner (The) 2. subjective or evaluative adjective (poor) 3. measurement (little) 4. coloration (pink) 5, material (plastic) 6. head noun (doll). Another example: An ugly old black wooden statue.

***

1, determiner (an) 2. opinion (ugly) 3. size (big) 4. shape (round) 5. condition (chipped) 6. age (old) 7. color (blue) 8. origin/material (French) 9. noun (vase).


(4) Could we say: A beautiful medium-sized long-sleeved new red cotton shirt.

I do not know. What do you think?

 

[5jj]

(4) Could we say: A beautiful medium-sized long-sleeved new red cotton shirt.

I do not know. What do you think?

I think we would be unlikely to, but we could.

 

[ratóncolorao]

NOT A TEACHER


(1) The order of adjectives confuses me, too.

(2) I found two more lists that might give you some added insight.

(3) They are both credited to The Grammar Book by Mesdames Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman.

1.determiner (The) 2. subjective or evaluative adjective (poor) 3. measurement (little) 4. coloration (pink) 5, material (plastic) 6. head noun (doll). Another example: An ugly old black wooden statue.

***

1, determiner (an) 2. opinion (ugly) 3. size (big) 4. shape (round) 5. condition (chipped) 6. age (old) 7. color (blue) 8. origin/material (French) 9. noun (vase).


(4) Could we say: A beautiful medium-sized long-sleeved new red cotton shirt.

I do not know. What do you think?

Do you really speak like that in everyday language, or is it just for books? I wonder if it is only for us - foreigners - to become crazy....:-D

Thank you for your answer

 

[TheParser]

Do you really speak like that in everyday language, or is it just for books? I wonder if it is only for us - foreigners - to become crazy....:-D




NOT A TEACHER


The two scholars whom I cited mention two other scholars (Praninskas and Svatko) who

remind us "that sequences of more than three adjectives SELDOM [my emphasis] occur
in speech or writing and that two-adjective sequences are the most typical ones."

As Teacher Fivejedjon so diplomatically and gently put it, my made-up example in my first post is "unlikely." (Brutal translation: "absurd")

 

[5jj]

As Teacher Fivejedjon so diplomatically and gently put it, my made-up example in my first post is "unlikely." (Brutal translation: "absurd")

'Absurd' is a little harsh.

It is a good example of how the adjectives would be ordered if we were ever to want to use so many, and it is a possible English sentence. It is probably more useful as an example than this set:

A beautiful new red cotton shirt.
A medium-sized long-sleeved cotton shirt.
A beautiful long-sleeved red shirt.
A medium-sized long-sleeved red cotton shirt.
A long-sleeved new red cotton shirt.
A beautiful long-sleeved new cotton shirt. ...etcetc.

We are more likely to hear these than your example, but they are not so helpful in picturing how we order adjectives.

 

[ratóncolorao]

Hello,

I wonder if the pre-established order for adjectives is a very strict rule… here I write one example I have just seen while reading one article on the BBC page:

BBC News - Sir Paul McCartney marries US heiress Nancy Shevell

“Ms Shevell wore a white, long-sleeved dress…..” while in the examples given by The Parser and Fivejedjon the colour comes after the adjective “long-sleeved” – following very precisely the rule.
Now, paying closer attention to the example given by Bhaisahab, we see that he also puts the colour in the first place: “A blue, size 38, long-sleeved….”

So, is there a strict rule to follow? Or, on the contrary, it is not very striking to see a different order depending on the situation, on the adjectives themselves, etc.....


I would like to know about it in order not to feel too confused in case of forgetting which one comes first.

Thank you very much.

 

[5jj]

It is far from a strict rule. In fact, there is no 'rule' at all. There are simply observations on how native speakers generally order adjectives. In my speech, I possibly put 'new' in a different position from the one TheParser chose. I did not comment on this, because the suggestions TheParser made were generally useful.