ADJECTIVE ORDER
and other words that come before nouns

Created by Robert Eastland
Article, Possessive, Quantifier, Number, or Demonstrative First!
a/an
the
my
their
some
many
any
this
those
etc.
Number after article (or in place of)
Three (e.g., The three students at the front of the class were early.)
First (e.g., The one thing I learned was how to smile.)
Many- used with plurals (e.g., There are many mountains in Canada.)
Some- usually used with uncountable nouns (e.g., I would like some water.)
First Orders
Possessive OR article- a/n, the
first, next and last (previous)
numbers-one, two, three, etc.
The first three days
His last two jobs
My next holiday
Next-Opinions before Facts!
`OPINION` ADJECTIVES  
    Adjectives like beautiful and nice are opinion adjectives. They tell us what you think about somebody or something.

`FACT` ADJECTIVES
      Adjectives like new, large, and blue are fact adjectives. They give us factual information about age, size, and color.
Examples of opinion before fact:

-  an interesting (opinion) old (fact)  book
-  some refreshing (o) cool (f ) water
-  A nice (o) Spanish (f) guitar
-  A delicious (o) chocolate (f) cake
-  a pair of classy (o) leather (f) shoes
-  A beautiful (opinion) small (f) yellow (f) Chinese (f) doll
Fact Adjectives (there are many, many categories – here are some of them):
SIZE:       How big?         Large, small, tiny, enormous
AGE:      How old?           New, young, old, ancient
SHAPE:    What shape?     Square, round, rectangular, flat
COLOUR:    What color?      Blue, pink, yellow, green
ORIGIN:    Where from?      Thai, Canadian, American, Chinese
MATERIAL: What it is made of?    Plastic, metal, glass, wooden
PURPOSE : What it  is used for?    Racing car, frying pan, sleeping bag 
Adjective Order (examples):
a wonderful old Italian clock (opinion - age - origin)
two big square blue boxes (dimension - shape - color)
fresh blue cotton sheets (opinion - color - material)
a pair of slim new French pants (dimension - age - origin)
Although there are exceptions, adjectives of size and shape often come first.

The round glass table (NOT the glass round table)
A big, modern brick house (NOT a modern, big brick house)
A pair of Long steel poles
A tall, ancient oak tree
Adjectives of color, origin, material and purpose usually go in that order.
Color origin material purpose noun red Spanish leather riding boots brown German beer mug
Venetian glass flower vase
Too Much to Remember?
Probably, but practice will help
Try not to use too many adjectives at once!
If you can’t remember, use a chart!