Order Of Adjectives
1) The “Royal Order” of Adjectives
Why “big red balloon” sounds right, but “red big balloon” sounds wrong.
Native English speakers naturally use a specific order when placing multiple adjectives before a noun. If you mix up the order, the sentence will sound very strange, even if it is technically understandable.
2) The Master Cheat Sheet
The standard order from first to last.
You can remember this order using the acronym OSASCOMP (Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Color, Origin, Material, Purpose), preceded by the Quantity.
| # | Category | What it answers | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quantity | How many? | A, an, the, some, five, many |
| 2 | Opinion | What do you think of it? | Beautiful, ugly, delicious, weird, lovely |
| 3 | Size | How big is it? | Huge, tiny, tall, short, massive |
| 4 | Age | How old is it? | Old, new, young, ancient, antique |
| 5 | Shape | What shape is it? | Round, square, flat, oval |
| 6 | Color | What color is it? | Red, blue, dark, pale, blonde |
| 7 | Origin | Where is it from? | Italian, French, lunar, Victorian |
| 8 | Material | What is it made of? | Wooden, metal, silk, plastic |
| 9 | Purpose | What does it do? | Sleeping (bag), mixing (bowl), running (shoes) |
“I bought two (1) beautiful (2) tiny (3) antique (4) round (5) silver (6) French (7) metal (8) pocket (9) watches.”
Note: You should almost never use this many adjectives in real life! Usually, we max out at 2 or 3.
3) Real-World Examples
Breaking down combinations of 2 or 3 adjectives.
“She drives a wonderful old Italian sports car.”
- Wonderful = Opinion
- Old = Age
- Italian = Origin
“He is wearing an ugly big orange tie.”
- Ugly = Opinion
- Big = Size
- Orange = Color
“We sat around a new square wooden table.”
- New = Age
- Square = Shape
- Wooden = Material
“I need to buy small black running shoes.”
- Small = Size
- Black = Color
- Running = Purpose
4) Common Mistakes to Avoid
Where English learners (and sometimes natives!) get tripped up.
Mistake 1: Putting Fact before Opinion
Always tell us how you feel about the object before you tell us the cold, hard facts about it.
A wooden beautiful chair.
A beautiful wooden chair.
Mistake 2: Mixing up Size and Color
Size comes very early in the sequence, while color comes right before the noun’s origin or material.
Look at that red big balloon!
Look at that big red balloon!
Mistake 3: Putting Age before Size
Physical size generally takes precedence over how old something is.
An old massive castle.
A massive old castle.
If adjectives come from different categories (e.g., Size and Color), you do not need a comma between them (a big red car).
If they come from the same category (e.g., two opinions), you do need a comma or the word “and” (a beautiful, elegant dress / a red and white flag).