In my video on peripheral language skills for AsiaTEFL’s 2023 international conference, I mention a guide for helping students of English deduce the correct order of adjectives in compound-adjective words. Here it is: After considerable research and consideration I have compiled what I feel is the most extensive and reliable list to date. I hope it’s helpful for both students and teachers alike!
Opinion
Silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult
Size
Large, tiny, enormous, little
Condition
Wet, poor, happy, broken
Age
Ancient, new, young, old
Price
Expensive, cheap, five-dollar
Shape
Square, round, flat, rectangular
Color
Blue, pink, reddish, gray
Pattern
Spotted, flowery, zig-zag, plaid, plain
Origin
French, lunar, American, eastern, Korean
Material
Wooden, metal, cotton, paper
Brand
Gucci, Nestle, Tesco
Purpose/variety
Sleeping bag, garbage can, pocket knife
Opinion
Size
Con-dition
Age
Price
Shape
Color
Pattern
Origin
Mater-ial
Brand
Variety
silly
tall
rich
young
Korean
business
man
nice
new
gray
striped
silk
Armani
suit
shiny
expen-sive
red
Italian
Lam-borghini
sports
car
good
long
sharp
curved
German
steel
steak
knife
There are many exceptions, and sometimes even native English speakers will disagree about some things.
Though “big” is a size, it often comes first, even before opinion, e.g. “Big beautiful boat.”
-Adjectives ending in “y” usually go directly in front of “little” or “old,” e.g. “hungry little mouse. -“Big” and “old” usually go right next to each other, as do “little” and “old,” e.g. “dirty little old man.” -Sometimes several of the rules above will be together! If this happens, you just have to guess.
Adjectives that don’t fit into the table, like “traditional,” usually go somewhere between “age” and “origin.”
If you can’t remember anything else: Opinion, other stuff, origin, material, variety.