Order in the noun phrase
Order of adjectives
Opinion adjectives (good, bad, …) go before “descriptive” or “fact” adjectives
She bought a beautiful red dress
When there are two or more “descriptive” adjectives, they go in the following order
Order of adjectives before nouns
This is a complicated point of grammar and the rules below have got exceptions
Adjective Placement
When using more than one adjective to describe a noun place the adjectives in the following order before the noun.
NOTE: We usually use no more than three adjectives preceding a noun.
Opinion
Example: an interesting book, a boring lecture
Dimension
Example: a big apple, a thin wallet
Age
Example: a new car, a modern building, an ancient ruin
Shape
Example: a square box, an oval mask, a round ball
Color
Example: a pink hat, a blue book, a black coat
Origin
Example: some Italian shoes, a Canadian town, an American car
Material
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)