Order of Adjectives

Conventional Order of Adjectives 

• There is a specific sequence for adjectives in sentences.  
• This is called the conventions order of adjectives. 
• It is the order in which adjectives are placed if there are more than one type of adjective. 
• The order is quite long and there are some variations here and there. 
• So as a rule of thumb, pay attention to the following: 

1. Number / Quantity comes first 

• Hot, two red egg muffins. (Wrong) 

• Two, hot egg muffins. (Right) 

2. Opinion adjectives (quality) comes before fact adjectives.  

• A green pretty dress. (Wrong) 
• A pretty green dress. (Right) 

You can prove that the jacket is blue. Thus, it is a fact. But some people might think it is pretty and some might think it is not. It is an opinion. That is how they view its quality. 

Other Examples: 

• A mystery exciting  novel.  (Wrong) 
• An exciting  mystery novel. (Right) 

Fact: Adjectives usually follow the order: size, shape, age, color, origin, material, etc. 

Examples: 

• The tiny, new, wooden kitchen table. 
• A big, blue, plastic ball. 
• The big, heavy, dusty book hadn’t been opened in years. 
• It was made of a thin, blue, copper material. 
• It’s a long, narrow, wooden paddle. 
• This is an oval, Spanish, bread-like Christmas cake. 
• That is a beautiful, petite, old, Russian furniture.