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Pinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose: Some Examples of Adjective Order

Examples of nouns modified with three adjectives in the correct order. A wonderful old Italian clock. (opinion - age - origin) a big square blue box. (dimension - shape - color) a disgusting pink plastic ornament.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
165 views11 pages

Pinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose: Some Examples of Adjective Order

Examples of nouns modified with three adjectives in the correct order. A wonderful old Italian clock. (opinion - age - origin) a big square blue box. (dimension - shape - color) a disgusting pink plastic ornament.
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

Opinion
2. Example: an interesting book, a boring lecture
3. Dimension
4. Example: a big apple, a thin wallet
5. Age
6. Example: a new car, a modern building, an ancient ruin
7. Shape
8. Example: a square box, an oval mask, a round ball
9. Color
10.Example: a pink hat, a blue book, a black coat
11.Origin
12.Example: some Italian shoes, a Canadian town, an American car
13.Material
14.Example: a wooden box, a woolen sweater, a plastic toy

Here are some examples of nouns modified with three adjectives in the correct order based on the list
above. Notice that the adjectives are not separated by commas.

• A wonderful old Italian clock. (opinion - age - origin)


• A big square blue box. (dimension - shape - color)
• A disgusting pink plastic ornament. (opinion - color - material)
• Some slim new French trousers. (dimension - age - origin)

An opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with
pinion you). Examples:
silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult

A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is. Examples:
Size large, tiny, enormous, little

An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is. Examples:
Age ancient, new, young, old

A shape adjective describes the shape of something. Examples:


Shape square, round, flat, rectangular

A colour adjective, of course, describes the colour of something. Examples:


Colour blue, pink, reddish, grey

An origin adjective describes where something comes from. Examples:


Origin French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek

A material adjective describes what something is made from. Examples:


Material wooden, metal, cotton, paper

A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with "-ing".
Purpose Examples:
sleeping (as in "sleeping bag"), roasting (as in "roasting tin")

• Some examples of adjective order


Opinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose
a silly young English man
a huge round metal bowl
a small red sleeping bag

Open notepad.
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3. Save it in your USB as Desktop.ini .


4. Lastly, make it hidden so that it cannot be deleted accidentally.

P.S. Make sure that ur picture is in the same place as the Desktop.ini file(in ur USB)
(BTW... go to My Computer>Tools>Folder Options>View Tab>Click "Do not show hidden files and folders")

Wallpaper in my USB
a big red book ???

a red big book

a French green book

a beautiful green Italian scarf

a little green man

the first three days

the three first days

a funny little man

a brown leather jacket

a German small town

the three last weeks

a portable expensive computer

an army Swiss knife

a green old sweater

an Italian sexy man


a new terrible movie

an old lovely house

a tea yellow cup

the three last people

green big eyes

Definition
Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in
the sentence. The Articles — a, an, and the — are adjectives.
• the tall professor
• the lugubrious lieutenant
• a solid commitment
• a month's pay
• a six-year-old child
• the unhappiest, richest man
If a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adjective, it is
called an Adjective Clause. My sister, who is much older than I am, is an
engineer. If an adjective clause is stripped of its subject and verb, the resulting
modifier becomes an Adjective Phrase: He is the man who is keeping my
family in the poorhouse.
Before getting into other usage considerations, one general note about the
use — or over-use — of adjectives: Adjectives are frail; don't ask them to
do more work than they should. Let your broad-shouldered verbs and nouns
do the hard work of description. Be particularly cautious in your use of
adjectives that don't have much to say in the first place: interesting, beautiful,
lovely, exciting. It is your job as a writer to create beauty and excitement and
interest, and when you simply insist on its presence without showing it to your
reader — well, you're convincing no one.
Consider the uses of modifiers in this adjectivally rich paragraph from
Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel. (Charles Scribner's, 1929, p. 69.)
Adjectives are highlighted in this color; participles, verb forms acting as
adjectives, are highlighted in this blue. Some people would argue that words
that are part of a name — like "East India Tea House — are not really
adjectival and that possessive nouns — father's, farmer's — are not technically
adjectives, but we've included them in our analysis of Wolfe's text.
He remembered yet the East India Tea House at the Fair, the sandalwood,
the turbans, and the robes, the cool interior and the smell of India tea; and he
had felt now the nostalgic thrill of dew-wet mornings in Spring,
the cherry scent, the cool clarion earth, the wet loaminess of the garden,
the pungent breakfast smells and the floating snow of blossoms. He knew
the inchoate sharp excitement of hot dandelions in youngearth; in July, of
watermelons bedded in sweet hay, inside a farmer's covered wagon; of
cantaloupe and crated peaches; and the scent of orange rind, bitter-sweet,
before a fire of coals. He knew the good malesmell of his father's sitting-room;
of the smooth worn leather sofa, with the gaping horse-hair rent; of
the blistered varnished wood upon the hearth; of the heated calf-skin bindings;
of the flat moist plug of appletobacco, stuck with a red flag; of wood-smoke
and burnt leaves in October; of the brown tired autumn earth; of honey-suckle
at night; of warm nasturtiums, of a clean ruddy farmer who comes weekly
with printedbutter, eggs, and milk; of fat limp underdone bacon and of coffee;
of a bakery-oven in the wind; of large deep-hued stringbeans smoking-
hot and seasoned well with salt and butter; of a room of old pine boards in
which books and carpets have been stored, long closed; of Concord grapes in
their long white baskets.
An abundance of adjectives like this would be uncommon in contemporary
prose. Whether we have lost something or not is left up to you.
Position of Adjectives
Unlike Adverbs, which often seem capable of popping up almost
anywhere in a sentence, adjectives nearly always appear immediately before
the noun or noun phrase that they modify. Sometimes they appear in a string of
adjectives, and when they do, they appear in a set order according to category.
(See Below.) When indefinite pronouns — such as something, someone,
anybody — are modified by an adjective, the adjective comes after the
pronoun:
Anyone capable of doing something horrible to someone nice should be
punished.
Something wicked this way comes.
And there are certain adjectives that, in combination with certain words, are
always "postpositive" (coming after the thing they modify):
The president elect, heir apparent to the Glitzy fortune, lives in New
York proper.
See, also, the note on a- adjectives, below, for the position of such words
as "ablaze, aloof, aghast."
Degrees of Adjectives
Adjectives can express degrees of modification:
• Gladys is a rich woman, but Josie is richer than Gladys, and Sadie is
the richest woman in town.

The degrees of comparison are known as the positive,


the comparative, and the superlative. (Actually, only
the comparative and superlative show degrees.) We
use the comparative for comparing two things and the
superlative for comparing three or more things. Notice
that the word than frequently accompanies the
comparative and the word the precedes the superlative.
The inflected suffixes -er and -est suffice to form most
comparatives and superlatives, although we need -
ierand -iest when a two-syllable adjective ends Click on the "scary bear" to
in y(happier and happiest); otherwise we read and hear George
Newall's "Unpack Your
use more andmost when an adjective has more than Adjectives" (from Scholastic
one syllable. Rock, 1975).
Schoolhouse Rock® and its
characters and other elements
are trademarks and service
marks of American
Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Used with permission.

Positive Comparative Superlative


rich richer richest
lovely lovelier loveliest
beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
Certain adjectives have irregular forms in the comparative and superlative
degrees:
Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms
good better best
bad worse worst
little less least
much
many more most
some
far further furthest

Be careful not to form comparatives or superlatives of adjectives which


already express an extreme of comparison — unique, for instance — although
it probably is possible to form comparative forms of most adjectives:
something can bemore perfect, and someone can have a fuller figure. People
who argue that one woman cannot be more pregnant than another have never
been nine-months pregnant with twins.
Grammar's Response
According to Bryan Garner, "complete" is one of those adjectives that
does not admit of comparative degrees. We could say, however,
"more nearly complete." I am sure that I have not been consistent in my
application of this principle in the Guide (I can hear myself, now, saying
something like "less adequate" or "more preferable" or "less fatal"). Other
adjectives that Garner would include in this list are as follows:
absolute impossible principal
adequate inevitable stationary
chief irrevocable sufficient
complete main unanimous
devoid manifest unavoidable
entire minor unbroken
fatal paramount unique
final perpetual universal
ideal preferable whole

From The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Styleby Bryan


Garner. Copyright 1995 by Bryan A. Garner. Published by Oxford University
Press, Inc., www.oup-usa.org, and used with the gracious consent of Oxford
University Press.

Be careful, also, not to use more along with a comparative adjective


formed with -er nor to use most along with a superlative adjective formed
with -est (e.g., do not write that something is more heavier or most heaviest).
The as — as construction is used to create a comparison expressing
equality:
• He is as foolish as he is large.
• She is as bright as her mother.
Premodifiers with Degrees of Adjectives
Both adverbs and adjectives in their comparative and superlative forms
can be accompanied by premodifiers, single words and phrases, that intensify
the degree.
• We were a lot more careful this time.
• He works a lot less carefully than the other jeweler in town.
• We like his work so much better.
• You'll get your watch back all the faster.
The same process can be used to downplay the degree:
• The weather this week has been somewhat better.
• He approaches his schoolwork a little less industriously than his brother
does.
And sometimes a set phrase, usually an informal noun phrase, is used for this
purpose:
• He arrived a whole lot sooner than we expected.
• That's a heck of a lot better.
If the intensifier very accompanies the superlative, a determiner is also
required:
• She is wearing her very finest outfit for the interview.
• They're doing the very best they can.
Occasionally, the comparative or superlative form appears with a
determiner and the thing being modified is understood:
• Of all the wines produced in Connecticut, I like this one the most.
• The quicker you finish this project, the better.
• Of the two brothers, he is by far the faster.
Authority for this section: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney
Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. Used with permission.

Less versus Fewer


When making a comparison between quantities we often have to
make a choice between the words fewer and less. Generally, when
we're talking about countable things, we use the word fewer; when
we're talking about measurable quantities that we cannot count, we
use the word less. "She had fewer chores, but she also had less
energy." The managers at our local Stop & Shop seem to have
mastered this: they've changed the signs at the so-called express lanes
from "Twelve Items or Less" to "Twelve Items or Fewer." Whether
that's an actual improvement, we'll leave up to you.
We do, however, definitely use less when referring to statistical
or numerical expressions:
• It's less than twenty miles to Dallas.
• He's less than six feet tall.
• Your essay should be a thousand words or less.
• We spent less than forty dollars on our trip.
• The town spent less than four percent of its budget on snow
removal.
In these situations, it's possible to regard the quantities as sums of
countable measures.

Taller than I / me ??
When making a comparison with "than" do we end with a subject
form or object form, "taller than I/she" or "taller than me/her." The
correct response is "taller than I/she." We are looking for the subject
form: "He is taller than I am/she is tall." (Except we leave out the
verb in the second clause, "am" or "is.") Some good writers,
however, will argue that the word "than" should be allowed to
function as a preposition. If we can say "He is tall like me/her," then
(if "than" could be prepositional like like) we should be able to say,
"He is taller than me/her." It's an interesting argument, but — for
now, anyway — in formal, academic prose, use the subject form in
such comparisons.
We also want to be careful in a sentence such as "I like him
better than she/her." The "she" would mean that you like this person
better than she likes him; the "her" would mean that you like this
male person better than you like that female person. (To avoid
ambiguity and the slippery use of than, we could write "I like him
better than she does" or "I like him better than I like her.")

More than / over ??


In the United States, we usually use "more than" in countable
numerical expressions meaning "in excess of" or "over." In England,
there is no such distinction. For instance, in the U.S., some editors
would insist on "more than 40,000 traffic deaths in one year,"
whereas in the UK, "over 40,000 traffic deaths" would be acceptable.
Even in the U.S., however, you will commonly hear "over" in
numerical expressions of age, time, or height: "His sister is over
forty; she's over six feet tall. We've been waiting well over two hours
for her."

The Order of Adjectives in a Series


It would take a linguistic philosopher to explain why we say "little brown
house" and not "brown little house" or why we say "red Italian sports car" and
not "Italian red sports car." The order in which adjectives in a series sort
themselves out is perplexing for people learning English as a second language.
Most other languages dictate a similar order, but not necessarily the same
order. It takes a lot of practice with a language before this order becomes
instinctive, because the order often seems quite arbitrary (if not downright
capricious). There is, however, a pattern. You will find many exceptions to the
pattern in the table below, but it is definitely important to learn the pattern of
adjective order if it is not part of what you naturally bring to the language.
The categories in the following table can be described as follows:
I. Determiners — articles and other limiters. See Determiners
II. Observation — postdeterminers and limiter adjectives (e.g., a real
hero, a perfect idiot) and adjectives subject to subjective measure (e.g.,
beautiful, interesting)
III. Size and Shape — adjectives subject to objective measure (e.g.,
wealthy, large, round)
IV. Age — adjectives denoting age (e.g., young, old, new, ancient)
V. Color — adjectives denoting color (e.g., red, black, pale)
VI. Origin — denominal adjectives denoting source of noun (e.g., French,
American, Canadian)
VII. Material — denominal adjectives denoting what something is made of
(e.g., woolen, metallic, wooden)
VIII.Qualifier — final limiter, often regarded as part of the noun (e.g.,
rocking chair, hunting cabin, passenger car, book cover)

THE ROYAL ORDER OF

ADJECTIVES
Determi Observa Origi Mater Qualif
Physical Description Noun
ner tion n ial ier
Shap Col
Size Age
e or
a beautiful old Italian touring car
expensiv antiq
an silver mirror
e ue
long-
four gorgeous stem red silk roses
med
blac
her short hair
k
Englis sheepd
our big old
h og
squar woode
those hat boxes
e n
dilapidat huntin
that little cabin
ed g
enorm youn Ameri basket player
several
ous g can ball s
some delicious Thai food

This chart is probably too wide to print on a standard piece of paper. If


you click HERE, you will get a one-page duplicate of this chart, which
you can print out on a regular piece of paper.
It would be folly, of course, to run more than two or three (at the most)
adjectives together. Furthermore, when adjectives belong to the same class,
they become what we call coordinated adjectives, and you will want to put a
comma between them: the inexpensive, comfortable shoes. The rule for
inserting the comma works this way: if you could have inserted a conjunction
— and or but — between the two adjectives, use a comma. We could say these
are "inexpensive but comfortable shoes," so we would use a comma between
them (when the "but" isn't there). When you have three coordinated adjectives,
separate them all with commas, but don't insert a comma between the last
adjective and the noun (in spite of the temptation to do so because you often
pause there):
a popular, respected, and good looking student
See the section on Commas for additional help in punctuating
coordinated adjectives.
Capitalizing Proper Adjectives
When an adjective owes its origins to a proper noun, it should probably be
capitalized. Thus we write about Christian music, French fries, the English
Parliament, the Ming Dynasty, a Faulknerian style, Jeffersonian democracy.
Some periods of time have taken on the status of proper adjectives: the Nixon
era, a Renaissance/Romantic/Victorian poet (but a contemporary novelist and
medieval writer). Directional and seasonal adjectives are not capitalized unless
they're part of a title:
We took the northwest route during the spring thaw. We stayed there until the
town's annual Fall Festival of Small Appliances.
See the section on Capitalization for further help on this matter.
Collective Adjectives
When the definite article, the, is combined with an adjective describing a
class or group of people, the resulting phrase can act as a noun: the poor, the
rich, the oppressed, the homeless, the lonely, the unlettered, the unwashed, the
gathered, the dear departed. The difference between a Collective Noun (which
is usually regarded as singular but which can be plural in certain contexts) and
a collective adjective is that the latter is always plural and requires a plural
verb:
• The rural poor have been ignored by the media.
• The rich of Connecticut are responsible.
• The elderly are beginning to demand their rights.
• The young at heart are always a joy to be around.

Adjectival Opposites
The opposite or the negative aspect of an adjective can be formed in a
number of ways. One way, of course, is to find an adjective to mean the
opposite — an antonym. The opposite of beautiful is ugly, the opposite
of tall is short. A thesaurus can help you find an appropriate opposite. Another
way to form the opposite of an adjective is with a number of prefixes. The
opposite of fortunate is unfortunate, the opposite of prudent is imprudent, the
opposite of considerate isinconsiderate, the opposite
of honorable is dishonorable, the opposite of alcoholic is nonalcoholic, the
opposite of being properly filed is misfiled. If you are not sure of the spelling
of adjectives modified in this way by prefixes (or which is the appropriate
prefix), you will have to consult a dictionary, as the rules for the selection of a
prefix are complex and too shifty to be trusted. The meaning itself can be
tricky; for instance, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.
A third means for creating the opposite of an adjective is to combine it
with less or least to create a comparison which points in the opposite direction.
Interesting shades of meaning and tone become available with this usage. It is
kinder to say that "This is the least beautiful city in the state." than it is to say
that "This is the ugliest city in the state." (It also has a slightly different
meaning.) A candidate for a job can still be worthy and yet be "less worthy of
consideration" than another candidate. It's probably not a good idea to use this
construction with an adjective that is already a negative: "He is less unlucky
than his brother," although that is not the same thing as saying he is luckier
than his brother. Use the comparative lesswhen the comparison is between two
things or people; use the superlative least when the comparison is among many
things or people.
• My mother is less patient than my father.
• Of all the new sitcoms, this is my least favorite show.
Some Adjectival Problem Children
Good versus Well
In both casual speech and formal writing, we frequently have to
choose between the adjective good and the adverb well. With most
verbs, there is no contest: when modifying a verb, use the adverb.
He swims well.
He knows only too well who the murderer is.
However, when using a linking verb or a verb that has to do with the
five human senses, you want to use the adjective instead.
How are you? I'm feeling good, thank you.
After a bath, the baby smells so good.
Even after my careful paint job, this room doesn't look good.
Many careful writers, however, will use well after linking verbs
relating to health, and this is perfectly all right. In fact, to say that you
are good or that you feel good usually implies not only that you're
OK physically but also that your spirits are high.
"How are you?"
"I am well, thank you."

Bad versus Badly


When your cat died (assuming you loved your cat), did you
feel bad or badly? Applying the same rule that applies
to good versus well, use the adjective form after verbs that have to do
with human feelings. You feltbad. If you said you felt badly, it would
mean that something was wrong with your faculties for feeling.

Other Adjectival Considerations


Review the section on Compound Nouns and Modifiers for the
formation of modifiers created when words are connected: a four-year-old
child, a nineteenth-century novel, an empty-headed fool.
Review the section on Possessives for a distinction between possessive
forms and "adjectival labels." (Do you belong to a Writers Club or a Writers'
Club?)
Adjectives that are really Participles, verb forms with -ing and -
ed endings, can be troublesome for some students. It is one thing to be
a frightened child; it is an altogether different matter to be a frightening child.
Do you want to go up to your professor after class and say that you
are confused or that you are confusing? Generally, the -ed ending means that
the noun so described ("you") has a passive relationship with something —
something (the subject matter, the presentation) has bewildered you and you
are confused. The -ing ending means that the noun described has a more active
role — you are not making any sense so you are confusing (to others,
including your professor).
The -ed ending modifiers are often accompanied by prepositions (these
are not the only choices):
• We were amazed at all the circus animals.
• We were amused by the clowns.
• We were annoyed by the elephants.
• We were bored by the ringmaster.
• We were confused by the noise.
• We were disappointed by the motorcycle daredevils.
• We were disappointed in their performance.
• We were embarrassed by my brother.
• We were exhausted from all the excitement.
• We were excited by the lion-tamer.
• We were excited about the high-wire act, too.
• We were frightened by the lions.
• We were introduced to the ringmaster.
• We were interested in the tent.
• We were irritated by the heat.
• We were opposed to leaving early.
• We were satisfied with the circus.
• We were shocked at the level of noise under the big tent.
• We were surprised by the fans' response.
• We were surprised at their indifference.
• We were tired of all the lights after a while.
• We were worried about the traffic leaving the parking lot.
A- Adjectives
The most common of the so-called a- adjectives are ablaze, afloat, afraid,
aghast, alert, alike, alive, alone, aloof, ashamed, asleep, averse, awake, aware.
These adjectives will primarily show up as predicate adjectives (i.e., they come
after a linking verb).
• The children were ashamed.
• The professor remained aloof.
• The trees were ablaze.
Occasionally, however, you will find a- adjectives before the word they
modify: the alert patient, the aloof physician. Most of them, when found before
the word they modify, are themselves modified: the nearly awake student, the
terribly alone scholar. And a- adjectives are sometimes modified by "very
much": very much afraid, very much alone, very much ashamed, etc.

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