Three Adjectives Describe One Noun--What Order Do I Put Them In?

We usually do not use more than three adjectives in front of one noun. I bought a new pink silk dress. We can add more, but then the reader or listener begins to lose track of all the descriptive words: My expensive new pink silk dress is gorgeous. The adjectives begin to pile up and run into each other like race cars on a greased track (Note: I just used a simile--do you remember what that is from our lesson a couple of weeks ago?).

When more than one adjective describes a noun, the adjectives must follow a pattern (order). The pattern is based on the category of each adjective. The website www.esl.about.com lists the order by dividing adjectives into seven categories (kinds).

1. Opinion (interesting, boring, fascinating)
2. Size or dimension (big, thin, tiny)
3. Age (new, modern, ancient)
4. Shape (round, square, oval)
5. Color (red, blue, greenish)
6. Origin (Spanish, Canadian, Indian)
7. Material (wooden, metal, plastic)

Look at our sentence from above: I bought a new pink silk dress. The three adjectives that describe the noun dress belong to these categories: New describes its age, pink describes its color, and silk is the material out of which the dress is made.

• Age--category 3
• Color--category 5
• Material--category 7

Are the numbers of the categories in numerical order (like when we count from 1 to 7)? YES! But if I say, I bought a pink new silk dress,the category numbers are in this order: 5, 3, 7. Is that the order in which we count? Nope! So we have to shift the adjectives around to get them into numerical order: I bought a new pink silk dress.

This is advanced, challenging grammar for people who are learning English. Don't even TRY to bring commas into the discussion yet! When we follow this order for putting adjectives in front of a noun, we usually don't need commas--unless (oh, no!) there is more than one adjective from the same category. But knowing how and when to separate adjectives with commas is a topic for another day.

My suggestion: Click on the link below and review the placement order for adjectives and the examples (you can watch the video if you like; if not, stop it or mute the sound). 

Adjective Placement Patterns for English Learners 

Then try putting a series of adjectives in the right order here:

Adjective Placement Quiz