The order of adjectives before a noun

English adjectives usually follow a predictable order before a noun. This order helps a phrase sound natural, although established expressions and changes in a word's meaning can override it.

The usual sequence

“A tasteful little black cocktail dress” follows the usual English order, whereas “a cocktail tasteful black little dress” does not. ¹ This pattern is called the Royal Order of Adjectives; native speakers tend to follow it without noticing, while people learning English may need to be taught it because other languages use different rules. ^{1, 2}

Adjectives modify nouns and answer which ones, how many or what kind; a noun and its modifying adjectives form a noun phrase. ³ The usual order before the noun is: ^{2, 4, 5}

1. Determiner.
2. Number.
3. Opinion or observation.
4. Physical description: size, shape, condition, age, colour and pattern, in that order.
5. Origin.
6. Material.
7. Qualifier.

^{2, 4, 5}

Examples include little red Italian sports car, nitrile surgical gloves, imported cat food, clean green striped shirt, rusty old metal bucket and white plastic venetian blinds. ⁶

Determiners and quantifiers

A determiner identifies which items are meant and comes first. ⁷ Definite determiners refer to something specifically defined: they include the, the demonstratives this, that, these and those, and possessive forms such as my, our, your, his, its, their and whose. ⁷ A possessive can also be formed with an apostrophe and s and made more emphatic with own or very own. ⁷ Interrogative determiners include which and what, and relative determiners include whichever and whatever. ⁶ The indefinite article a does not specify a particular item or set of items. ⁶

Quantifying determiners include all, both, any, every, some and no. ⁶ When several determiners occur, the quantifying one usually leads, as in all my children. ⁶ Quantifying determiners also precede other quantifiers, including cardinal numbers, as in all 12 children. ⁸

Quantifying determiners can be definite, such as all or no, or indefinite, such as some, many or a few. ⁸ They can express a large or small quantity, as in many, more or fewer, or a maximum, sufficient or zero quantity, as in all, both, sufficient or no. ⁸

Descriptive adjectives and qualifiers

Opinion or observation includes judgments such as good, bad, ugly, priceless and outdated. ⁵ Origin includes American or Chinese, and material includes wooden or metal. ⁵

A qualifier identifies the type of noun and can be an attributive noun, as in cat food. ⁵ A qualifier may bind so tightly to its noun that the two form one concept, as in red wine and French fries, or one word, as in schoolteacher and homework. ⁵ The phrases full-bodied Italian red wine and sporty new red Italian sports car illustrate the resulting order. ⁹

Exceptions

The Royal Order is a rule of thumb, and established expressions can depart from it: the big bad wolf sounds natural even though the usual order would put opinion before size. ¹⁰ In such cases, the choice depends on the ear for language. ¹⁰

A word can also change category with its meaning. ¹⁰ Venetian originally indicated origin in Venice, but in venetian blinds it identifies a type of window covering and functions as a qualifier. ¹⁰ The phrase is therefore plastic venetian blinds, rather than venetian plastic blinds. ¹⁰