Order Up! Adjectives
A friend described a presentation they saw while visiting their grandmother in a nursing home. “They filled the stage with singing, fit, purple-clad, 15 or so, unbelievably talented seniors, belting their hearts out. Wait. That doesn’t sound right.” And they were right: it didn’t. Why? Not because the senior choir was off key (they weren’t) or forgot their lyrics (they didn’t), but because the adjectives in the sentence were in the wrong order.
What?
There’s an order for adjectives?
Yes, Virginia, there is an adjective order, even when talking about singing senior citizens.
A general consensus exists among the many resources for adjective order. I say “general” because the British use a system that differs slightly from the American system, and, well, you know us Americans. We can’t agree on much these days, so there are varying opinions on adjective order.
I’m going to share a GENERAL order that will enable you to choreograph your language to sound right and be considered grammatically correct 99% of the time in America. Since I just watched Mary Poppins, I’ll use “penguins” as my noun.
Number/Determiner
A list of adjectives about a group of items should always start with the number or quantity. Whether talking about a specific amount or a dozen, the number kicks off the list. If you lack a specific number, a determiner can take its place. Determiners are articles (e.g., a, some,) or possessives (e.g., your, Digby’s). We’ll go with the number since penguins should not belong to anyone but themselves.
So, our baseline is: Twenty-two penguins.
Opinion/Qualitative Word
Next come opinion words or qualitative words. These are words that express how you perceive the object being spoken about or how it strikes you. Your perception of those penguins might be that they were “beautiful,” “talented,” “clever,” “independent,” or “adorable.” Place your opinion or qualitative adjective after the number:
Number + opinion/quality: Twenty-two cheeky penguins
Size
The actual size of the object might not matter, but where it goes in the descriptor line does. Words that describe the size of the object, be they little, gigantic, miniscule, or tall, follow the opinion words.
Number + opinion/quality + size: Twenty-two cheeky, petite penguins
Age, Shape, and Color
Now we come to the age, shape, and color section. The British like to stick age between shape and color (or “colour,” as they say). Most American plans want you to remember that age comes before beauty of shape or color. Since a penguin never tells, let’s ignore age and go with shape and color only.
Number + opinion/quality + size + shape + color: Twenty-two cheeky, petite, rotund, black-and-white penguins
Origin/Materials
Everyone (i.e., Brits and Americans on all sides of the adjective line) agrees that origin or materials comes next. Origin refers to the specific heritage of the object, while materials means what the object is made of. One or the other will do in most listings. Since I prefer not to think about what penguins are made of, I’ll opt for their origin here.
Number + opinion/quality + size + shape + color + origin/materials:
Twenty-two cheeky, petite, rotund, black-and-white British penguins
Purpose/Qualifier
The purpose/qualifier adjective is a bit difficult to define. Think of this as the what-it-is-used-for or the category-it-fits-best adjective. If you choose to go with purpose, consider the thing the object does well, was built for, or what marks their calling in life, e.g., cleaning, dissecting, expounding, translating. If you go with the qualifier, think of the category the object fits in best. Is the dog a hound or a terrier? Is the truck a pickup or dump truck? For our case, we will use purpose.
Number + opinion/quality + size + shape + color + origin/materials + purpose/qualifier:
Twenty-two cheeky, petite, rotund, black-and-white British dancing penguins
My Friend’s Fixed Adjective Order
As every talented writer knows, it is unnecessary to use all the categories of adjectives when describing an object. In fact, most readers will appreciate it if you don’t use more than one or two. However, when necessary, as in when the senior choir performance impressed my friend, line ‘em up and load ‘em in using the correct order so it reads and sounds right.
Messed up order: The stage was filled with singing, fit, purple-clad, 15 or so, unbelievably talented seniors, belting their hearts out.
Correct order: The stage was filled with 15 or so fit, unbelievably talented, purple-clad singing seniors, belting their hearts out.
