You want to say a bag is big, old, and brown. But which word comes first? In
English, adjectives follow a fixed order before a noun. You say a big old brown bag — not a brown old big bag.
The Order
When two or more adjectives come before a noun, they follow this order:
Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material →
Purpose
| Category |
What it tells you |
Examples |
| Opinion |
good or bad? |
nice, ugly, lovely, terrible |
| Size |
big or small? |
big, small, tall, short, long |
| Age |
old or new? |
old, new, young, modern |
| Shape |
what shape? |
round, square, flat, thin |
| Colour |
what colour? |
red, blue, green, dark |
| Origin |
where from? |
Italian, Chinese, British |
| Material |
made of what? |
wooden, plastic, cotton, gold |
| Purpose |
what is it for? |
sleeping (bag), cooking (oil) |
How It Works
1. Opinion before size
- a lovely small garden
- a small lovely garden
2. Size before age
- a big old house
- an old big house
3. Age before colour
- a new black phone
- a black new phone
4. Colour before origin
- a red Italian car
- an Italian red car
5. Origin before material
- a Japanese wooden table
- a wooden Japanese table
Two or Three Adjectives
Most of the time, you use only two or three adjectives before a noun. You do
not need all eight categories.
She has beautiful long dark hair. (opinion → size → colour)
He bought a small round metal box. (size → shape → material)
They live in a nice old French house. (opinion → age → origin)
Numbers and Articles
Numbers and articles (a, an, the) come before all adjectives.
- the two big red boxes
- a beautiful old painting
Common Mistakes
| Wrong |
Right |
Why? |
| a green big apple |
a big green apple |
Size before colour. |
| a leather Italian bag |
an Italian leather bag |
Origin before material. |
| an old nice man |
a nice old man |
Opinion before age. |
| a cotton blue shirt |
a blue cotton shirt |
Colour before material. |
| wooden small spoons |
small wooden spoons |
Size before material. |
The order feels natural to native speakers, but it is not obvious for
learners. When you are not sure, check: opinion first, then facts about the
noun (size → age → colour → origin → material).
Adjectives After the Verb
When an adjective comes after be, there is no special order. You can say:
- The car is old and red.
- The car is red and old.
The fixed order only applies before a noun.
Quick summary:
-
Adjectives before a noun follow a fixed order: opinion → size → age
→ shape → colour → origin → material → purpose.
-
Opinion always comes first. Material and purpose always come last.
- Articles and numbers go before all adjectives.
- After be, order does not matter.
-
In everyday English, two or three adjectives before a noun is
normal. More than three is rare.
Continue with comparative and superlative adjectives to learn how adjectives change
form. For more on basic sentence structure, see singular and plural nouns.
