LAST UPDATED AUGUST 2, 2024
What’s wrong with these sentences?
- A brown, flat, leather Italian shoe.
- A fishing, wooden, blue, old boat.
- A silver, square, trinket, small box.
- An Indian, vegetable, spicy curry.
- A green, vast, beautiful valley.
They sound odd, don’t they?
If you haven’t already figured it out, it’s because the adjectives — the describing words — are in the wrong order.
In English we say or write our adjectives in this specific order:
- Opinion
- Size
- Age
- Shape
- Colour
- Origin
- Material
- Purpose
Followed by the noun we are describing.
You probably don’t remember being taught this — but you’ve definitely learned it. And you may not have even realised you knew it, until just now.
Now let’s try those sentences again
- A flat, brown, Italian leather shoe.
- An old, blue, wooden fishing boat.
- A small, square, silver trinket box.
- A spicy Indian vegetable curry.
- A beautiful, vast, green valley.
Perfect!
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About the author
I’m Jenny Lucas, a freelance copywriter and content writer based in Leicester, at the heart of the UK.
I offer a range of freelance copywriting and content writing services, both online and offline.
If you’d like to find out more, please visit my main website.
