Did you know that there is a correct/ habitual order of adjectives in English? I have just found out this rule which we all conform to without knowing. We order our adjectives based on what they describe.
The Order of Adjectives
The proper order by type of adjective is, from top to bottom,
- Opinion
- Size
- Age
- Shape
- Colour
- Origin
- Material
- Purpose
The only time we notice this rule is when it is broken!
EXAMPLE:
A lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife.
(Opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose, noun)
IN USE:
To put the adjectives in a different order sounds odd! ‘My leather walking brown boots’; ‘the Greek fat big wedding’; ‘his paper-back red large interesting University long thesis’; ‘her new brief Shakespeare teaching brilliant show.’
EXCEPTIONS:
‘Big bad wolf.’ If it followed the rule it would be ‘bad big wolf’; can you find others like this?
Phrases like ‘silly old fool,’ ‘little black dress,’ ‘nice hot cup of tea,’ and ‘nasty cold wet day,’ all follow the rule.
Is this so in other languages?
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