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)