Word order in English sentences is adjectives. The order of adjectives in English

Let's imagine this situation: You want to buy a new car. You, of course, can contact the salesperson at the dealership and say: “I’ve been dreaming of buying a car for a very long time and I know exactly which one I want. Sell ​​it to me, please."

Of course, he will think that you are a little crazy and will ask you a completely reasonable question: “What does your dream car look like?” And then you either have to describe the car to the seller in every detail, or you will never receive it. Most likely, they will sell you the car that has been collecting dust in the dealership for 4 years, waiting for the sucker who will buy it. And believe me: this will not be the car of your dreams, but your absolute nightmare!

Luckily, you can describe your dream car in words. Words that describe something are adjectives. Adjectives describe nouns (nouns include people, places, events, and things). Using adjectives is the simplest, but no less effective way to enrich your writing. Take for example the following sentence:

I want to buy a car (I want to buy a car).

Could this proposal be considered interesting? Can it shed some light on what kind of car you want to buy? Answer: NO and NO! After all, your interlocutor has no idea what kind of car you started saving money for at the age of 11, depriving yourself of school lunches. Is it a huge SUV or a tiny subcompact? Fast or slow car? Red or blue? Used or new? It is impossible to understand all this from the first sentence. If you wrote like this in some essay, the examiner could easily accuse you of “poor writing skills” - a limited vocabulary and primitive phrase construction. Would you buy the book if it was written like this? Probably no. Unfortunately, many writers and students write this way. This is a very common problem that, fortunately, can be easily resolved.
So let's try again: what kind of car would you like? Well, mmm...

I want to buy a blue car. (I want to buy blue automobile).
I want to buy a new car (I want to buy new automobile).
I want to buy a European car. (I want to buy European automobile).
I want to buy a beautiful car. (I want to buy Beautiful automobile).

Did everyone find adjectives in these sentences? Yes, yes, the very words that describe the car: blue, new, European, beautiful. The problem is this: these 4 sentences imply that the author wants to buy 4 different cars. And if the author wanted to buy just 1 car, how would all these qualities fit into one sentence? So, you need to use all the adjectives in one sentence. As a result of simple manipulations we get...

I want to buy a blue, new, European, beautiful car. (I want to buy a blue, new, European, beautiful car).

So, how do you like it? Any problems? Yes, they have! In English, the ORDER of words in a sentence is extremely important. And native speakers are especially meticulous about observing the order of adjectives.
In order not to get confused and guess where to put this or that adjective, remember once and for all the following sequence:

1. Evaluation + 2. Size + 3. Shape + 4. Condition + 5. Age + 6. Color + 7. Pattern + 8. Origin + 9. Material + 10. Purpose + NOUN

1. Evaluation opinion
good, bad, beautiful, lovely, ugly, smart, stupid, dumb, boring, delicious, useful' useful', comfortable 'convenient'

size 2
big, small, tall, short, high, low, huge, tiny

3. Shape
round 'round', circular 'cylindrical', square 'square', straight 'straight'

4. Condition
broken, cracked, ripped, fresh, rotten, cold, hot, wet, dry, hungry, rich 'rich', poor 'poor', dirty 'dirty', clean 'clean', easy 'easy', difficult 'difficult'

5. Age
new ‘new’, antique ‘antique’, ancient ‘ancient’, young ‘young’, old ‘old’

6. Color
red, purple, pink, dark green, navy blue

7. Pattern
striped, spotted, checked, checkered, flowery

8. Origin
Korean, Chinese, French, Italian, American

9. Material
iron, brass, gold, silk, cotton, woollen, synthetic, wooden, paper, vegetable

10. Purpose
sleeping (bag) ‘sleeping (bag)’, gardening (gloves) ‘garden (gloves)’, shopping (bag) ‘shopping (bag)’, wedding (dress) ‘wedding (dress)’

Using the proposed scheme, you can put the adjectives in our example in the correct order. You will get the following sentence:

I want to buy a beautiful, new, blue, European car. (I want to buy a beautiful, new, blue, European car).

Remember: it is adjectives that help readers or listeners create a vivid image in their imagination.
Which, for example, of these two sentences is more expressive? Which of them creates a “picture” in the imagination?

I want to buy a car.
-or-
I want to buy a beautiful, new, blue, European car.

We think you have already presented and understood everything.
And finally, a small recommendation: articles, possessive and demonstrative pronouns are placed before the entire group of adjectives.

Test yourself:
Rewrite the sentences using the adjectives given in brackets. Pay special attention to the correct word order.

In the article we will talk about adjectives - words that denote a characteristic and answer the question “which?” (yellow, interesting, tasty, etc.). Typically, English adjectives are placed before the subject, i.e.: yellow lemon, not "the lemon is yellow". Difficulties begin when there are too many adjectives.

In what order should they be placed? Let's figure it out.

1. Where to put the signs?

However, before we move on to the order of adjectives, let's look again at where they can actually be placed.

The most common pattern is adjective + noun:

The new shiny bicycle waited for me in the shop.

However, in literature, the noun + adjective scheme can be used to create an artistic effect:

The bicycle, new and shiny, waited for me in the shop.
The bicycle, new and shiny, was waiting for me in the store.

Finally, if the most important idea of ​​the sentence is to convey the attribute of the subject, then you can use the noun + verb “to be” + adjective scheme:

The bicycle in the shop was new and shiny.
The bicycle in the store was new and shiny.

2. What other signs are there?

In addition to the cases already indicated (words answering the question “which one?”), the following words can be used as signs before nouns:

• Words denoting certainty
  We are talking about articles (a/an - indefinite, the - definite), as well as words like “this”, “that” (this, that, these, those).
• Words denoting belonging
  That is, what answers the question “whose?” These are words like "my", "your", his, her (my, your, his, her), etc. And also words with “s”: John’s house, friend’s phone, etc.
• Nouns (words that answer the question “who?”, “what?”) as signs.
  There is a curious feature in the English language: if we say two objects (nouns) in a row, then the first of them plays the role of a sign!

For example:

train ticket

Train- train, ticket- ticket. It turns out to be a “train ticket” - that is, ticket on train.

flower pot

Flower- flower, pot- pot. Together - floral pot.

Such things are found everywhere: they allow you not to come up with a new word (like “floral” from “flower”), but to make the most of existing ones.

3. Adjective order

Now we come to the most important thing. In what order should we arrange all the words that we put in front of our noun?

1) Determination and belonging

Always go first

• or the article a/the,
• or words like “that” - “this” (this/that/these/those),
• or belonging (my, your, John's).

For example:

The new shiny bicycle waited for me in the shop.
A shiny new bike was waiting for me in the store.

This wonderful summer weather filled me with joy.
This The wonderful summer weather filled me with joy.

John's old blue car stayed in front of his house.
Jonova an old blue car stood in front of the house.

Note that all three points are mutually exclusive:

The my new shiny bicycle
Shiny new bike

This is the wonderful summer weather
This wonderful summer weather

The John's old blue car
John's old blue car

2) Quantity or serial number

If you want to indicate the quantity or serial number of an item, then this must be done after a/this/my etc.:

My two best friends are Jack and Linda.
My two best friends are Jack and Linda.

I like this second idea more.
I like it more this is the second one idea.

Sarah's many relatives came to her wedding.
Sarina has numerous relatives came to her wedding.

These two stunning photos are the best I"ve ever made.
These two amazing The photos are the best I've ever taken.

Many brilliant ideas appear unexpectedly.
Many brilliant ideas appear suddenly.

4) Objective signs of the subject

Now we come to the most important thing - those characteristics of an object that indicate its color, size, etc. - that is, they relate to physical characteristics that do not depend on our opinion.

The difficulty is that there can be a great many such characteristics, and here too there is an order:

• 4.1) size
• 4.2) shape
• 4.3) condition (what the item is at the moment: clean, dirty, wet, dry, soft, hard, etc.)
• 4.4) age
• 4.5) color
• 4.6) source (where the object comes from)
• 4.7) material
• 4.8) purpose (what the object is for)

I have a big round cooking pot for such dishes.
I have a large round cooking pot for such dishes.
(size-shape-purpose)

The garage had a rusty old green metal roof
The garage had a rusty old green metal roof.
(condition-age-color-material)

This fine big black Japanese refrigerator has worked well for 10 years.
This quality big black japanese The refrigerator worked well for ten years.
(rating-size-color-source)

5) Nouns as signs

Finally, if you decide to use a noun as one of the attributes (like train ticket), then these two objects cannot be “separated”! Nouns as attributes always stand close to the “main” noun:

I showed him my tattered white train ticket.
I showed him mine torn white ticket On the train.
(state-color-noun as a feature)

She brought home an unusual square white ceramic flower pot.
She brought home unusual square white ceramic floral pot.
(assessment-shape-color-material-noun as a feature)

Of course, the entire list presented looks a little complicated :). But in reality, you don’t have to fill out every single item: we rarely add more than three or four attributes to one item at a time.

What else can help in mastering this scheme? Make up some examples and try to remember them! This way you can use them to navigate the points. Just try to make the examples logical for you, and not just a bunch of words: try, say, to describe some object from the house that you see every day.

Native speakers, as you understand, do not have any patterns in their heads - they simply intuitively understand how to arrange the features, and if they hear them in the wrong order, it will sound strange to them. Use language more often: listen, watch, read, and then sooner or later you will also be able to rely on your own intuition.

Reinforcement task

Translate the sentences into English, arranging the signs in the correct order:

1. He sold his old large wooden cottage.
2. I love these great white soft Indian cotton throws.
3. Have you seen the small brown leather wallet?
4. I'm looking for a clear rectangular glass ashtray.
5. Where is my black old cleaning brush?
6. Throw away those ugly green old leather athletic shoes!
7. Do you like my adorable new blue diamond earrings?

Often, studying adjectives does not cause any difficulties, but in any question there are pitfalls. So, for those who still experience difficulties in this topic, in this note we will analyze in detail the order of adjectives in the English language.

Type of adjectives

Everyone has learned since school that an adjective is a part of speech that describes objects, objects and other nouns. Most English adjectives come before the part of the sentence they describe. Traditionally, English distinguishes between objective and subjective adjectives.

• Objective adjectives are those that reflect facts, objective characteristics. For example, a brick house. It is a fact that the house is made of brick.
• Subjective ones convey a subjective assessment, personal perception of the described object.

Therefore, to describe the order of adjectives in an English sentence, a scheme is often used: subjective adjectives come first (because they are less important), then objective adjectives (because they are more important), then the noun.

What's going on?

But what if one noun is described by several adjectives? In this case, there is a more detailed diagram that will help you decide in what order to place the adjectives. Let's look at it:

1. So, first place is given to adjectives denoting a general opinion/impression, such as expensive, smart, delicious;
2. The following group determines the size: tiny (large\big), small (small);
3. Analyzing the order of adjectives in English, the third place is given to the adjective denoting age: young (young), old (old);
4. The fourth position is occupied by adjectives indicating shape: square;
5. Next are adjectives denoting colors: yellow;
6. This group consists of adjectives of origin: Russian;
7. This group includes adjectives that describe the material from which the item is made: brick;
8. And finally, the last (that is, the closest to the noun) are adjectives denoting the purpose: for cooking (cooking), for cleaning (cleaning).

Thus, you see that the order of adjectives in English is built according to the importance of the adjective. In this regard, paragraphs 3, 4, 5 can be swapped if the speaker wants to emphasize any quality of the subject. The main rule: the more significant the feature, the closer it is located in relation to the object.

Subtleties to remember when arranging adjectives

• If there are several adjectives of the same category, a comma is required between them;
• If there is an adjective in the superlative or comparative degree, it takes first position;
• A group of adjectives that describe a measure can be placed after a noun (a nice building 24 meters high - a beautiful 24-meter building).

An adjective in a sentence is usually placed before a noun when it acts as a modifier.

In this case, articles are always placed before the adjective:

Sometimes an adjective is preceded by an adverb of degree, such as too [that] - too, quite [quite] - very, quite, etc.

A noun can also be preceded by several adjectives, but there is a difference between them.

Closer to the noun there will be adjectives directly denoting the state of things, and before them there will be adjectives indicating a subjective opinion about the object, for example:

• What a lovely sports bicycle! [wat e lovely sports bike] - What a wonderful sports bike! (sports is an obvious phenomenon, but lovely means whoever likes it, who has what opinion about it.)
• It’s great classic music [its great classic music] - This is great classical music.

Must remember!

If you need to use several adjectives before a noun, then a certain word order is maintained in an English sentence. First come:

1. Opinion - quality, assessment (beautiful, difficult, silly, horrible...)
2. Size - size (little, large, tiny, enormous...)
3. Age - age (young, ancient, old, new...)
4. Shape - shape (square, round, flat, rectangular...)
5. Color - color (white, blue, grey, pink...)
6. Origin - origin (European, Russian, American...)
7. Material - material, manufacturing method (metal, cotton, paper, wooden...)
8. Purpose - purpose (sleeping, cooking...)

For example:

• Somebody has lost a typical large new rectangular black Chinese fabric travelling suitcase. — Someone lost a typical, large, new, rectangular, black, Chinese, cloth travel suitcase.

Adjective after the qualifying word:

1. When an adjective is a modifier of an indefinite pronoun:

2. When adjectives have dependent words and in different comparative constructions:

3. When the definition is expressed by the adjective absent [absent] - absent, present [present] - present and others:

• The birds absent are listed as endangered [ze byodz ebsant a listed ez indangered] - Absent birds are listed in the Red Book.

Adjectives after verbs - connectives

The adjective is placed after the verb - a connective in the function of the nominal part of the compound predicate. A compound nominal predicate consists of: a linking verb and a nominal part. The most commonly used linking verb is to be

Adjectives that start with "a":

• ashamed [escheimd] - ashamed,
• alike [elike] - the same,
• aglow [eglow] - excited,
• afloat [efloat] - floating, etc.

Adjectives such as ill [il] - sick and well [uel] - good (about health) should be mentioned only as a predicative. In this case, forms of degrees of comparison are not applicable to adjectives.

We often use several adjectives in a row to give the most complete description of an object or person in one sentence. In the Russian language there are no problems with this: you name yourself several adjectives in a row, put commas between them, and you’re done.

In English, everything is not so simple. If we want to give something a detailed description, we must take into account the rules for arranging adjectives in a sentence. It is not customary to use adjectives in random order.

Traditionally, the following word order in a sentence is considered correct:

• Article or determiner (a, the, her)/li>
• Rating, opinion (good, bad, terrible, nice)
• Size (diminutive, weeny, vast, massive, giant)
• Age (elderly, age-old, ancient, old-fashioned)
• Shape (triangular, crooked, convex)
• Color (brown, ultramarine, light gray)
• Origin (German, Oriental, Asian)
• Material (paper, cardboard, plastic, knitted)
• Purpose (sleeping, running)
• Defined noun

In this case, adjectives in the comparative and superlative degrees are always placed ahead, and adjectives that determine measure (deep, high, wide) are placed strictly after the noun.

This most beautiful lake isn’t big, but it is 30 meters deep (The most beautiful lake is small, but 30 meters deep)

This order of adjectives in a sentence is called natural, although remembering it causes difficulties.

How to remember this?

There are several ways to remember the order of adjectives.

Firstly, it is worth remembering that we put subjective adjectives, that is, words that describe our attitude towards a subject, in first place. Obviously, if something has hurt us or caused us some emotions, we will first of all say about it. The placement of adjectives in the comparative and superlative degrees is also explained: you compared one object with another and gave it your assessment.

Secondly, try to remember the first letters of all groups of characteristics: opinion (assessment, opinion), size (size), age (age), shape (form), color (color), origin (origin), material (material), purpose (appointment). It turns out OSASCOMP. It sounds funny and is easy to remember (we found this method on the Internet and haven’t tried it ourselves yet - editor’s note).

You can make a sentence in which words begin with the letters that are in the abbreviation.

On Saturday And Sunday Cold Ovens Make Pastry.

Thirdly, come up with and remember one sentence that would contain a list of all types of adjectives in a row. Later, if you need to list adjectives, you will be able to remember the order in this single sentence and construct a new phrase by analogy.

I love my (qualifier replacing the article) beautiful (personal assessment) tiny (size) old (age) flat (shape) brown (color) German (origin) leather (material) running (purpose) shoes (qualifying noun).

Keep in mind that objective adjectives denoting a constant attribute are placed closer to the noun. It is optimal to use no more than three adjectives to characterize one subject, otherwise it overloads the sentence and complicates the task for the listener.

Punctuation

There is no comma between adjectives if these adjectives belong to different categories.

My girlfriend has beautiful (evaluative characteristic) short (length) white (color) hair (noun)

If adjectives belong to the same category, a comma is placed between them.

He is an annoying (rating), nasty (rating), ugly (rating), uneducated (rating), haughty (rating), arrogant (rating) man.

If there are only two adjectives in a sentence, the conjunction and is placed between us instead of a comma.