OXFORD PRACTICE GRAMMAR 105

OXFORD PRACTICE GRAMMAR
105 THE ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
A Introduction
It's beautiful sunny weather. Nick has got a big black dog.
We can use more than one adjective before a noun. There is usually one
correct order.
We cannot say sunny beautiful weather or a-black big dog
B Adjectives and nouns
We sometimes use two nouns together (see Unit 82).
a glass door a computer program
Here we use glass like an adjective, to describe the door. When we use
another adjective
as well (e.g. heavy), it comes before both the nouns.
a heavy glass door a useful computer program
C Word order
We order adjectives according to their meaning. This is the normal order:
EXAMPLES
GROUP
1 Opinion (how good?)
2 Size (how big?)
3 Most other qualities
4 Age (how old?)
5 Colour
6 Origin (where from?)
7 Material (made of?)
8 Type (what kind?)
9 Purpose (what for?)
Here are some examples.
a small green insect (size, colour) Japanese industrial designers (origin,
type) a wonderful new
face cream (opinion, age, purpose) awful plastic souvenirs (opinion,

material) a long boring train
journey (size, quality, type) some nice easy quiz questions (opinion, quality,
purpose) a beautiful
wooden picture frame (opinion, material, purpose)
We sometimes put commas between adjectives in Groups 1-3
a horrible, ugly building a busy, lively, exciting city
wonderful, nice, great, awful, terrible Adjectives that say how good
large, small, long, short, tall and how big come first.
quiet, famous, important, soft, wet,
difficult, fast, angry, warm
new, old
red, blue, green, black
American, British, French
stone, plastic, steel, paper an
electric kettle, political
matters, road transport a
bread knife, a bath towel
Most adjectives come next if they do
not belong to another group.
Some of these are nouns.
► big leather boots
1. …………………………………………….. 3
…………………………………….
2. …………………………………………….. 4
……………………………………
2 The order of adjectives (A-C)
Write a list of things to be sold at an auction.
► basin / sugar, antique, silver an antique silver sugar basin
1 vase / glass, old, lovely
2 mirror / wall, attractive

3 desk / modern, office
4 chairs / kitchen, red, metal
5 boat / model, splendid, old
6 stamps / postage, valuable, Australian
7 table / small, coffee, wooden
3 The order of adjectives (A-C)
Look at each advertisement and write the information in a single sentence.
► This game is new. It's for the family. And it's exciting.
This is an exciting new family game.
1 This computer is for business. It's Japanese. And it's powerful.
2 This fire is electric. It's excellent. And it's small.
3 This is a chocolate bar. It's new. And it's a big bar.
4 This comedy is American. It's for television. And it's terrific.
5 These doors are aluminium. They're for your garage. And they're stylish.
6 These shoes are modern. They're for sports. And they're wonderful.
This phone is a mobile. It's German. And it's very good.
105 EXERCISES
1 The order of adjectives (A-C)
Describe the pictures. Use these words: boots, building, car, seat, singer
.

► big leather boots
1. …………………………………………….. 3
…………………………………….
2. …………………………………………….. 4
……………………………………
2 The order of adjectives (A-C)
Write a list of things to be sold at an auction.
► basin / sugar, antique, silver an antique silver sugar basin
1 vase / glass, old, lovely

2 mirror / wall, attractive
3 desk / modern, office
4 chairs / kitchen, red, metal
5 boat / model, splendid, old
6 stamps / postage, valuable, Australian