Order of Adjectives Notes

ORDER OF ADJECTIVES ☆Order etymologically(study of words) means "row, line, rank, series, pattern, arrangement, routine."  Origin: Latin ☆ Of means "off, from, down." Origin: Old Norse/Dutch/German ☆ Adjective means a "word used to qualify, limit, or define a noun or noun-like part of speech." The purpose of an adjective is to add or increase the noun. Origin: Old French/Latin ● Order of Adjectives = the arrangement of words that define a noun 📌This means: ->When we use more than one adjective before a noun in English, we often put the adjectives in a specific order. 🤷‍♂️WHY? Why is it: 🦊Little Red Ridinghood and the Big Bad wolf instead of "Red little Ridinghood and the Bad Big wolf? 🐷Or the three little pigs instead of "the little pigs three?" 🛌Or Sleeping Beauty instead of "Beauty sleeping"? Because... 1. It sounds right Big Bad Wolf vs Bad Big Wolf ( the first physical attribute we recognize about an object is size) 2.They help to contract sentences in a sensible manner. For example: If we are talking about an incident, an event or a person... -> The concerned parents = parents who were worried -> The parents concerned = parents who were involved or mentioned The present people= the people who are here/there The people present = the people who were presenting or proposing an idea/representing a group A responsible person = a person who is sensible and reliable The person responsible = the person who is to blame USES 👨‍🎓Academic writing 🗞News 👩‍💻 Literature 🗣 Spoken English RULES ✅ Order of adjectives are also known as cumulative adjectives (adjectives that build on one another to modify a noun). ✅The order of adjectives is preceded by determiners e.g. possessives (my, mine our, your,his,her, their), articles (the, a, an), demonstratives (this, that, those, these), quantifiers (a few, enough, many, a little, most, some, any, some of), interrogatives (what, whose and which) etc. ✅ It is concluded by a noun (because the purpose of the adjective is to define the noun). ✅ Despite the order, not more than two or three adjectives are usually used to describe a noun. ✅ They are not  separated by a comma in a written sentence because they function as a unit. SO, WHAT IS THE ORDER? 🔢 Number/Quantity e.g. whole, half, several, A lot, A few, many, three, 100, etc 💡Opinion e.g  tasty, strong, ugly, costly, stubborn, etc 📏Size e.g. small, little, petite, big, gigantic, etc 🔞Age e.g. young, old, ancient, adolescent, youth, 14 years old, adult, child 💠Shape e.g. square, round, skinny, triangular, etc 🌈 Colour e.g. black, yellow, blue, etc 🌍Origin e.g. British, Chinese, Korean, American, etc 👩‍🏭 Material e.g. wooden, woollen, silk, nylon, plastic, aluminium, etc 🔄Purpose e.g. writing (paper), dress shoes (formal dinners), clothes pin (hanging clothes on a line), postage stamp (stamp for sending letters), etc 🤓MNEMONIC: NOSAS COMP 💔EXCEPTIONS ☆Coordinate adjectives - these are adjectives which are equal in weight and can be looked at individually. The characteristics of coordinate adjectives are: 1. Are separated by commas; 2. Can be separated by "and," "as well as," and; 3. Can be followed by a linking verb (although this is not the most concise way of writing) Examples • The spider was bright and green. • A good meal ensures a healthy as well as a nutritious start to the day. • The brown chameleon appears to have changed its colour to a neon green hue.