ORDER OF ADJECTIVES BEFORE A NOUN

Sometimes we use several adjectives together.

My aunt lives in a lovely small cottage.

In the garden there was a beautiful large square wooden table.

Adjectives like small / large / square / wooden are fact adjectives. They give us objective information about something (age, size, colour etc.). Adjectives like
lovely / beautiful are opinion adjectives. They tell us what someone thinks of
something. Opinion adjectives usually go before fact adjectives:

opinion fact

a nice sunny day

a beautiful large square wooden table

Sometimes there are two or more fact adjectives. Usually (but not always) we
put fact adjectives in this order:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

size age shape colour origin material purpose NOUN

a tall young man

big blue eyes

a small black plastic bag

a long brown wooden walking stick

an old French clock

Adjectives of size and length (big / small / tall / short / long etc.) usually go before
adjectives of shape and width (round / fat / thin / slim / wide etc.):

a large round table a tall thin girl a long narrow street

If there is an even wider choice of adjectives before a noun, their order can be like this:

size age shape colour P.II origin material type purpose NOUN

a tall young well-built man

big blue eyes

a small black plastic bag

a long brown wooden walking stick

an old round French clock

an old plastic container

a round biscuit tin

Exercise 64. Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct position.

Example: a modern house (attractive) − an attractive modern house

Exercise 65. Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct order to complete the sentence. Then decide which city the speaker is talking about.

Cairo, Istanbul, London, Tokyo, Moscow, Paris, Sydney, Venice

1. The best way to get around in the city is to get on a _____ bus. (red, big)

2. The city is full of palaces along the sides of the canals. (old, wonderful)

3. Just outside the city you soon see the shapes of the Pyramids. (stone, vast)

4. From the top of the tower you can look across the French capital. (graceful, iron)

5. At the heart of the city is this _____fortress which is still home to the president.

(medieval, well-known)

6. This is a _____ city, not a centre for historic buildings, but still a great place to visit. (busy, commercial)

7. This spectacular city where Europe and Asia meet has _____ buildings, as well as

ancient palaces. (modern, tall)

Exercise 66. Put the adjectives in the correct order.

1. Cycling is a(n) _____ activity. (useful, outdoor, popular)

2. Now I'm reading a _____ novel. (depressing, long, boring)

3. He had a _____ alarm clock. (digital, new, useful)

4. Have you heard of this _____ invention? (Japanese, fantastic, new)

5. This family rents a _____ house. (furnished, large, old)

6. I've just bought a(n) _____ table. (beautiful, coffee, glass, oval)

7. Robert's is the _____ car. (red, Italian, big)

8. Our students are using _____ dictionaries. (English, reliable, new, complete)

9. There was a _____ carpet on the floor. (soft, wonderful, woollen, Persian)

10. Andy gave Rosie a _____ box. (jewellery, velvet, small, square)

11. Stratford is a _____ town. (nice, small, quiet)

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 2238