Adjective Placement and Order
In this lesson, we will learn the place of adjectives in a sentence and where they appear. We will also learn about the order of different types of adjectives
Adjective Placement
Adjective can be categorized into two main groups based on whether they appear before a noun or after a verb:
Attributive Adjectives
Attributive adjectives provide descriptive information about a certain characteristic of the person, place, or object, such as its appearance, color, shape, size, age, origin, etc. For example:
The
You are my
Attributive Adjectives: Types
Based on whether they appear before or after the noun they are modifying, attributive adjectives can be categorized as:
- Pre-positive Adjectives
- Post-positive Adjectives
Pre-positive Adjectives
'Pre' means before, so as the name suggests, pre-positive adjectives can only appear before the noun they modify.
He is such a
He is obviously a
Post-positive Adjectives
It is possible for attributive adjectives to come after the noun or (especially) the indefinite pronoun they modify. Because of this postposition, we call them postpositive adjectives or postnominal adjectives.
We need someone
Postpositive adjectives mainly appear after indefinite pronouns.
I saw
In English, postpositive adjectives are less common. They are used in archaic or poetic texts, phrases borrowed from Roman or Latin, and some fixed grammatical structures. Pay attention to the examples:
I watched the demons
heir
Those
Tip!
All adjectives can be used postpositively after this/that/so:
(a/an) + noun + this/that/so + adjective
Who would wear a hat
Buy me a painting
Predicative Adjectives
A predicative adjective (also called predicate adjective) follows a linking verb. They can take an adjective complement after them or appear alone. For example:
That baby is
I tried not to be
Attributive Adjective Order
Adjectives are used to assign specific qualities or descriptions to nouns. However, when assigning more than one quality to a noun, there is a specific
Why Is The Order Important?
The order of adjectives is important when they are used consecutively without a comma (,) or 'and' separating them. When adjectives are separated by commas or 'and', the order becomes less important. However, when describing something or someone with multiple adjectives, the order in which they are placed is crucial.
Adjectives: Word Order
The general rule for the order of adjectives before a noun is as follows:
| Opinion | Size | Age | Shape | Color | Origin | Material | Purpose |
|
Now let's look at an example. Note that it is not very common to use so many adjectives before a noun. This is just an example for you to see how this rule works:
beautiful small new shiny red Italian sports car
fancy big old round brown German wooden musical clock
pay attention to the order of the adjectives
Opinion
Some adjectives describe a general opinion. We can use these adjectives to describe almost any noun.
- beautiful
- lovely
- nice
- strange
- awful
Some adjectives describe a specific opinion. We only use these adjectives to describe particular kinds of nouns. For example, people, animals, food etc.
- delicious
- tasty
- comfortable
- intelligent
- friendly
Usually, you put a general opinion before a specific opinion.
a
a
Size and Shape
When we refer to the 'size' of a noun, we are describing its physical dimensions, such as how big or small it is, as well as its height, such as whether it is tall or short.
On the other hand, when we refer to the 'shape' of a noun, we are describing its physical form, such as whether it is round, oval, triangular, or another shape. Adjectives that describe shape can also include words that describe weight or length, such as long, fat, or heavy.
a
a
Purpose
By 'purpose' we mean what the noun is used for.
a
a
Review
Adjectives are used to describe nouns. So, there is not always only one adjective. Sometimes more than one is used. In this case, we need to know their correct orders.
| Opinion | Size | Age | Shape | Color | Origin | Material | Purpose | Noun |
A
The
Tip!
Pay attention to where you want to put an adverb (more specifically an intensifier or a mitigator) in front of adjectives. If the adjectives are in order, you can put the adverb in front of the adjectives and it modifies all the adjectives. But if there are commas or 'and' between them, you can put an adverb in front of the adjectives.
Look at that
She is a beautiful and
Tip!
Note that the specific order of the adjectives is only applied to attributive adjectives.
And, pay attention that the order is only applied when the adjectives come one by one after one another, not in the form of a coordinated adjective phrase.
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Adjectives
Adjectives are words that are used to modify nouns. They offer more information about the noun after them.
Types of Adjectives
Adjectives are the most used words in sentences. There are several types of adjectives according to their uses. Let's get to know them!
Descriptive Adjectives
Descriptive adjectives are adjectives that modify a noun or pronoun by showing its quality. In this lesson, we will learn more about them.
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
Comparative adjectives are used to compare one noun to another noun. Superlative adjectives are used to compare three or more nouns.
