This is the list I was telling some of you about. It’s not in the format I wanted but here it is. (This list is from “Adjective Placement” by Kenneth Beare at http://esl.about.com/od/grammarstructures/a/adjective_order.htm)

Aside from coordinate adjectives, there is actually an acceptable order of adjectives in a series of adjectives. The list starts with the type of adjective that would come first in a list, all the way down to seventh place. All this to explain why today’s answer was “an angry old man” (opinion-age) and not “an old angry man” (age-opinion). Now, the list:

Note: We usually use no more than three adjectives preceding a noun.

1. Opinion

Example: an interesting book, a boring lecture

2. Dimension

Example: a big apple, a thin wallet

3. Age

Example: a new car, a modern building, an ancient ruin

4. Shape

Example: a square box, an oval mask, a round ball

5. Color

Example: a pink hat, a blue book, a black coat

6. Origin

Example: some Italian shoes, a Canadian town, an American car

7. Material

Example: a wooden box, a woolen sweater, a plastic toy

Here are some examples of nouns modified with three adjectives in the correct order based on the list above. Notice that the adjectives are not separated by commas.

· A wonderful old Italian clock. (opinion – age – origin)

· A big square blue box. (dimension – shape – color)

· A disgusting pink plastic ornament. (opinion – color – material)

· Some slim new French trousers. (dimension – age – origin)

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

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