Friday, October 21, 2011

Grammar Tip # 1: Adjective Order


In English, it is common to use more than one adjective before a noun -- for example, "He's a silly young fool," or "she's a smart, energetic woman." When you use more than one adjective, you have to put them in the right order, according to type.

THE BASIC TYPE OF ADJECTIVES

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

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

SHAPE
A shape adjective describes the shape of something. Examples: square, round, flat, rectangular

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

COLOR
A color adjective, of course, describes the colour of something. Examples: blue, pink, reddish, grey

ORIGIN
An origin adjective describes where something comes from. Examples: French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek.

MATERIAL
A material adjective describes what something is made from. Examples: wooden, metal, cotton, paper

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

THE ORDER: OPINION, SIZE, SHAPE, AGE, COLOR, ORIGIN, MATERIAL, PURPOSE
FOR EXAMPLE:
"a SILLY SMALL OLD ROUND RED ENGLISH LEATHER SLEEPING pillow "



 Practise a bit with an online EXERCISE here. (click)

And remember, apart from these posts on Grammar Tips, you can always check the GRAMMAR PAGE (up above section, underneath the heading of the Blog).

Enjoy.

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