Introduction to the Topic
Sometimes a simple noun just isn’t enough to get your point across. It lacks the power necessary to really set the scene or clarify an idea. To give an example, maybe you don’t want to just write, “the woman explained.” Instead, you want to help the reader build a picture in his or her head: “The petite, young woman explained.”
An efficient way to help build this “mental image” of your topic would be to use adjectives. Adjectives, in this case, can be defined as a word used to modify a noun by ascribing a quality to it. Adjectives are a wonderful way to provide detail to a person, place, or thing plus they are quite fun to play around with!
However, adjectives can’t be placed willy-nilly before the noun they are modifying. When listing multiple adjectives, there is an order that must be followed. Each adjective can be sorted into a different category depending on the type of information it provides.
These categories are then placed into a specific order when describing a noun.
The correct order for your adjectives is as follows:
- Opinion: An opinion adjective shows what you think about a noun, keeping in mind that what you think is not necessarily a fact.
Examples: silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult
- Size: A size adjective describes how big (or small!) something is.
Examples: large, tiny, enormous, petite
- Age: Similarly, an age adjective says how many years something or someone has.
Examples: ancient, young, old, new
- Shape: A shape adjective describes what form something or someone takes.
Examples: rectangular, round, flat, square
- Color: A color adjective, perhaps more obviously, describes what hue or color something or someone has.
Examples: blue, pink, reddish, grey
- Origin: An origin adjective describes where someone or something comes from.
Examples: French, lunar, Greek, eastern, American
- Material: A material adjective describes the composition of something or someone.
Examples: wooden, metal, cotton, paper
- Purpose: Last but not least, a purpose adjective shows the use of a something or someone. These adjectives often end with “-ing,” but keep in mind that adjectives ending in “-ing” can also be placed into other categories.
Examples: sleeping (as in “sleeping bag”), roasting (as in “roasting pan”)
Chances are you won’t be using an adjective from each of the eight groups to describe someone or something all at once. But next time you do use multiple adjectives to modify a noun, use this list to ensure that they are arranged in the proper order. Not only is it grammatically correct but it will also avoid the awkward flow of an out-of-order description.
-Developed by Samantha Brody
Source: All examples from University of Victoria – Study Zone