Quick overview by GrammarGramps:
- The order of adjectives in English is Quantity → Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Color → Origin → Material → Purpose
- This order of adjectives is also known as the Royal Order of Adjectives.
- Following the order of adjectives is important as it helps to make your speech/writing clearer and easier to follow.
- You can memorize the acronym QOSASCOMP to quickly bring the order of adjectives to mind whenever you need to.
- The order of adjectives is generally applied to attributive adjectives, and not predicate-only adjectives.
Introduction
In English, the adjectives that are used before a noun (or a pronoun) have to follow a specific order. In other words, if there is more than one adjective attached to a noun, they have to be mentioned in a particular sequence for the sake of clarity and correctness.
For instance, let’s say that Jack met a Russian man on his uncle’s farm. Later, when Jack described the man to his uncle, he said, “I met a Russian, large, middle-aged man.”
This order isn’t correct at all. It reads horribly, and it just comes out in a very clunky way.
The correct way for Jack to mention all the adjectives for the Russian gentleman would be this: I met a large, middle-aged, Russian man.
The fascinating thing about the English order of adjectives is that many natives have no idea what it is. But they follow it instinctively.
Non-native speakers and ESL students, however, can find it a bit tricky. Hence, there is a need to properly learn about it.
What is the Order of Adjectives?
The order of adjectives in English is as follows: Quantity → Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Color → Origin → Material → Purpose.
This order is known as the Royal Order of Adjectives.
Here is what it looks like in a straight list form.
- Quantity
- Opinion
- Size
- Age
- Shape
- Color
- Origin
- Material
- Purpose
After all of these adjectives comes the noun itself.
Here is an example sentence where you can see the order correctly demonstrated:
- Jack wore three (quantity) large (size), black (color), woolen (material) cloaks at the same time. (I don’t know why he did that.)
Examples of Adjectives and Their Classification in the Royal Order
Here is a table that shows the various categories in the order of adjectives along with their respective examples.
| Position | Category | Examples |
| 1 | Quantity | three, several, a few, many |
| 2 | Opinion | beautiful, good, lovely, strange |
| 3 | Size | large, tiny, enormous, tall |
| 4 | Age | old, young, middle-aged, ancient |
| 5 | Shape | round, square, flat, narrow |
| 6 | Color | black, red, golden, pale |
| 7 | Origin | Russian, French, Italian, Nordic |
| 8 | Material | woolen, wooden, silver, cotton |
| 9 | Purpose | sleeping (bag), running (shoes), cooking (pot) |
Examples of Adjectives in the Correct and Incorrect Order
The easiest way to understand why the royal order matters is to see what happens when it is followed correctly and when it is not. The table below shows the same noun described with the same adjectives, first in the wrong order and then in the right one.
| ❌ Incorrect Order | ✅ Correct Order |
| A Russian, large, old man | A large, old, Russian man |
| A woolen, black, long coat | A long, black, woolen coat |
| A round, small, silver antique coin | A small, round, antique silver coin |
| A wooden, square, old brown table | A square, old, brown wooden table |
| A cotton, striped, new blue shirt | A new, striped, blue cotton shirt |
| A French, young, pretty girl | A pretty, young, French girl |
| Several enormous, old, grey stone ancient boulders | Several enormous, ancient, grey stone boulders |
Notice how the incorrect versions feel clunky and unnatural, even if you cannot immediately explain why. The correct versions, on the other hand, simply sound right.
Why is it Important to Follow the Order of Adjectives?
It is important to follow the order of adjectives so that our speech and writing are clear and easy to follow.
I explained this in the main guide on “What is an Adjective?”
Here is an excerpt taken from that guide:
There is a reason behind the particular order of adjectives. When something is described using adjectives in the right order, it’s very easy to imagine it.
For example, if someone says, “A small, old, rusty axe,” the listener/speaker is able to instantly first imagine the smallness and oldness of the item before the item itself is introduced.
If someone says “A rusty, small, old axe,” the person has already pictured something rusty, and they have to do a mental backflip when the words “small, old axe” are mentioned. They might have thought of a rusty nail. A rusty faucet.
With the right order, however, this problem doesn’t arise.
How Can I Learn the Order of Adjectives?
You can learn the order of adjectives by simply memorizing the acronym “QOSASCOMP.”
I’ve actually created a fun mnemonic that you can use to memorize this acronym. I’m going to share it in the next heading.
In this acronym, each of the letters indicates the starting letter of the different categories in the order of adjectives. “Q” stands for “quantity,” “O” for “opinion,” and so on.
Now, let me tell you about the mnemonic.
Mnemonic to Memorize the Order of Adjectives by GrammarGramps
A mnemonic is basically a little memory trick that you can use to recall something easily. Even if you can’t recall the actual thing, you can think of the mnemonic, and it will come back to you in an instant.
To make sure we remember the order of adjectives, we can simply memorize this sentence:
Quite often, several antelopes smash cudgels on mushy and pulpy napkins.
Yep, that’s it.
“The mnemonic is easy to remember because of how bizarre it is. Just picture a forest clearing. A bunch of antelopes stand around, glancing at each other out of the corners of their eyes. Suddenly, one of them produces a bunch of old checkered napkins. The others draw big sticks from behind them and then follows a sequence where they just beat everything out of those napkins. It’s a strange ritual.”
– GrammarGramps (in the main “What is an Adjective?” guide)
If you simply memorize this sentence, you’ll be able to recall the order of adjectives because each word in that sentence starts with the letter of the acronym “QOSASCOMP.”
The word “napkins” is an extra addition to that sentence, but the “N” will help you remember that after all of those adjectives, the next thing in the sentence is the noun.
From that sentence, your mind will be able to recall the acronym. From the acronym, you can recall the order of adjectives.
It’s a bit of an exercise, but hey, if you’re like me and you have trouble remembering stuff the normal way, you can associate something bizarre with it and make it easy.
Order of Adjectives and Predicate-Only Adjectives
The order of adjectives is typically applied to attributive adjectives, which can be used before the noun in a sentence.
Predicate-only adjectives are the type of adjectives that can only appear after the noun and not before it. The sequence for predicate-only adjectives is usually this: Noun + linking verb + adjective.
For example, the word afraid is a predicate-only adjective. The same goes for words like alive and aware.
Most predicate-only adjectives, such as afraid, aware, and alive, fall in the same “opinion” category in the order of adjectives. Adjectives that fall in the same category can be used in any order that seems suitable for the particular situation. Hence, there isn’t a lot of confusion with them.
Order of Adjectives for Comparative and Superlative Forms
Moving on, let’s talk about the order of adjectives for comparative and superlative forms.
Just as regular adjective forms are subject to the specific order, the same goes for comparative and superlative forms. For instance, in describing a person, we might say:
There was a young and pale boy at the door.
Now, let’s say that there were two boys at the door instead of one. We could say:
Of the two, the younger and paler boy stepped forward.
When we are using comparative forms, we have to remember the exact rules of the order of adjectives.
The same applies to superlative forms. For instance, if there were a whole bunch of boys at the door, we would say:
Of the lot, the youngest and palest boy stepped forward.
In summation, whether an adjective is gradable or non-gradable, it has to follow the royal order.
Wrapping Up
And that’s it! That’s where GrammarGramps ends his droning.
Remember, the order of adjectives is necessary for clarity in both speech and writing. The sequence is Quantity, Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Color, Origin, Material, and Purpose.
You can remember this order by memorizing the acronym QOSASCOMP. Or, the mnemonic: Quite Often, Several Antelopes Smash Cudgels On Mushy And Pulpy Napkins. (The “Napkins” is for N, which indicates the noun that comes after all of these adjectives.)
Related Resources
Now that you’re done reading this guide, be sure to check out the others that are published here on GrammarGramps as well. I’ll give you some suggestions that you can navigate to quickly.
- Firstly, make sure to read the detailed guide on adjectives that we have here on the website. It’s the main resource that you should be acquainted with to get a good understanding of adjectives in general.
- Secondly, make sure to check the word-specific guides that I’ve linked in the guide above to learn more about the nature of words like beautiful, good, afraid, aware, and alive.
- Thirdly, if you want to learn more adjectives to use in your day-to-day writing/speaking, be sure to check out our detailed list of 100 adjectives with meanings. You’ll be able to learn a lot of different ones, and you can have some fun figuring out where each of them goes in the royal order.
- Last but not least, you don’t want to miss out on our grammar glossary. It’s a whole treasure trove of grammar terms and definitions, with many linked to their dedicated guides here on GrammarGramps.
