Adjective Order in English: Rules, Chart and Examples

The most important rule is simple: opinion adjectives come before fact adjectives. An opinion adjective shows what someone thinks (nice, horrible, interesting, delicious). A fact adjective describes something everyone can see or check (big, old, red, French, wooden).

So we say a nice new phone, not a new nice phone, and delicious Italian food, not Italian delicious food.

General opinion words like nice, lovely, great and awful come before more specific opinion words like comfortable or tasty: a lovely comfortable chair.

After opinion, the fact adjectives usually follow this order: size, then age, then shape, then colour. A simple way to remember it: How big? How old? What shape? What colour?

Size words include big, small, tall, long and tiny. Age words include old, new, young and modern. Shape words include round, square and flat. Colour comes after all of these: a big old black dog.

In real English you will almost never need all four at once. Two is normal and three is common in descriptions. If a phrase feels heavy, move some information to a separate sentence or use with or that: a big old dog with black fur.

The last three groups sit closest to the noun.

Origin tells us where something comes from: Italian, Chinese, Mexican. Material tells us what something is made of: wooden, metal, cotton, plastic, gold. Purpose tells us what something is for, and it is often a noun or an -ing word that works like an adjective: a running shoe, a sleeping bag, a coffee cup. The purpose word is so close to the noun that it almost makes one word with it.

So we say a French silver necklace, a leather walking boot and a plastic shopping bag. Never put anything between the purpose word and the noun: a new running shoe, not a running new shoe.

Use no comma between adjectives from different groups: a small black bag (size + colour). They do not have the same job, so they are not a list.

Use a comma (or and) between two adjectives from the same group, usually two opinions: a boring, pointless meeting, or a boring and pointless meeting. A good test: if you can put and between them and swap them, use a comma.

For two colours, use and: a black and white cat.

After verbs like be, seem, look and feel, the adjectives come after the verb and work like a list, so we use and before the last one: The hotel was clean, quiet and cheap. Read more about commas in English punctuation.

In English, adjectives normally come before the noun: a red car, not a car red. Many languages put the adjective after the noun, so this is worth practising.

Adjectives also come after linking verbs like be, look, seem, feel, get and become: The car is red. You look tired.

Adjectives never take a plural -s in English: two red cars, not two reds cars. A few adjectives, like asleep, afraid and alive, are only used after the verb: The baby is asleep, not an asleep baby. For adjectives that describe feelings, see -ed and -ing adjectives, and for words that describe how we do things, see adverbs of manner.

When people speak, they usually use one or two adjectives before a noun and add more information later. A shop assistant might hear: I'm looking for a small black bag. Leather, if you have one. Long chains of adjectives are more common in stories, product descriptions and advertising.

If you are not sure about the order, say the phrase aloud. Correct orders usually sound smooth and natural to a trained ear, and the more English you read, the faster you will hear it. When you describe your home, your clothes or your town, practise with two adjectives from different groups: a cosy little flat, a big old station, a lovely green park.