UNIT 19
Adjective Order
Material + Worksheet
A big black wolf A black big wolf
coffee 1. Strong black Italian coffee
2. Strong Italian black coffee
black 3. Black strong Italian coffee
Italian 4. Black Italian strong coffee
5. Italian black strong coffee
strong 6. Italian strong black coffee
jacket a. Short stylish brown leather jacket
brown b. Brown stylish short leather jacket
stylish
short c. Stylish short brown leather jacket
leather d. Stylish brown leather short jacket
magnificent
a. Huge magnificent ancient Scottish stone castle
huge b. Magnificent huge ancient Scottish stone castle
ancient
c. Magnificent ancient huge Scottish stone castle
Scottish
stone d. Ancient magnificent huge Scottish stone castle
castle
ACRONYM TO REMEMBER THE CORRECT ADJECTIVE ORDER
N-O-S-A-S-C-O-M-P
Number Size Shape Origin Purpose
Opinion Age Color Material
A big black wolf
Strong black Italian coffee
Stylish short brown leather jacket
magnificient huge ancient Scottish stone castle
Number describes the number of nouns one, two, three, four
Opinion describes your judgement or what horrible, ugly,
you think about something beautiful, fantastic
Size /
physical describes how big or small huge, tiny, long, tall,
quality something is thin, rough, tidy
Age / describes how old or young old, new, young,
Condition something is ancient, antique
Shape describes the shape of circular, square,
something triangular
Colour / describes the colour or pattern of black, red, pinkish, blue,
pattern something striped, polka-dot, zigzag
Origin / describes where the noun is from Chinese, Italian,
nationality American, African
Material / describes what the noun is wooden, leather, plastic,
Type made of / what type of the noun metallic, unisex, four-
wheel
Purpose describes where the noun is fishing, cooking, sleeping,
used for sports
Exercise :
REARRANGE THE FOLLOWING ADJECTIVES TO MAKE A GOOD SENTENCE.
silk, blue, soft scarf.
My friend gave me a
N-O-S-A-S-C-O-M-P soft, blue, silk
My friend gave me a soft, blue, silk scarf.
rectangular, small, wooden box in my sister’s room.
I found a
N-O-S-A-S-C-O-M-P small, rectangular, wooden
My classmate gave me ten, small, orange, Chinese, Slimming pills.
N-O-S-A-S-C-O-M-P ten, small, orange, Chinese,
slimming
CONCLUSION :
• Usually, we don’t use more than three adjectives in a sentence. The
examples given previously are just used to show how adjectives are
properly put in order.
RULE #1 : OPINION BEFORE FACT.
They live in a beautiful old house on the edge of the city.
RULE #2 : GENERAL IDEAS BEFORE SPECIFIC IDEAS.
He works for a small Canadian company.
I love these old black-and-white films.
• We sometimes disarrange the adjectives when we want to emphasize
something.
She has a big hideous scar. N-O-S-A-S-C-O-M-P
A. Arrange the adjectives in correct order
1. (Maldivian / black / elegant / silk / long) dress → ___________________________________________________
2. (three / old / round / wooden / beautiful) tables → ___________________________________________________
3. (Swedish / tiny / silver / antique / lovely) watch → ___________________________________________________
4. (two / ugly / large / medieval / stone) towers → ___________________________________________________
5. (red / excellent / racing / German / new) car → ___________________________________________________
6. (small / Estonian / beautiful / ceramic / blue) vase → ___________________________________________________
7. (three / enormous / old / stone / Greek) castles → ___________________________________________________
8. (leather / brown / stylish / Luxembourgish / riding) boots → _____________________________________________
9. (ancient / magnificent / Estonian / marble) temple → ___________________________________________________
10. (little / lovely / old / square / white / Slovak / wooden) house → _______________________________________
B. Correct the Adjective Order Errors
1. She carried a leather rectangular brown handmade tiny Bhutanese exquisite travel bag.
→ _________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. He placed a metallic cuboid antique tiny Icelandic ornate storage box on the shelf.
→ _________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. They live in a wooden charming white little ancient Latvian handcrafted mountain house.
→ _________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. We ordered a serving aromatic round Turkish hot wooden traditional platter.
→ _________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. He bought a titanium rectangular portable sleek Estonian advanced gaming device.
→ _________________________________________________________________________________________________