4.5 Order of adjectives and nouns




When there are two or more adjectives or nouns before a noun, they tend to go in the following order:



Opinion

Measure

Age or tempe-rature

Shape

Colour

Verb form

Origin

Material

Noun

Head noun

nice

big

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tables

 

big

 

round

         

tables

 

 

old

 

brown

 

 

 

 

tables

 

big

     

carved

French

   

tables

nice

 

old

 

 

 

French

 

 

tables

       

brown

   

wooden

card

tables



In other words, typical examples are:



nice big tables
big round tables
old brown tables
big carved French tables
nice old French tables
brown wooden card tables



See also adjectives, general, adjectives, comparative and superlative, –ing form and nouns that modify other nouns.