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.