Article, Possessive, Quantifier, Number, or Demonstrative First!

0 a/an 0 the 0 my 0 their 0 some 0 many 0 any 0 this 0 those 0 etc.

Number after article (or in place of)

0 Three (e.g., The three students at the front of the class

were early.)

0 First (e.g., The one thing I learned was how to smile.)

0 Many- used with plurals (e.g., There are many

mountains in Canada.)

0 Some- usually used with uncountable nouns (e.g., I

would like some water.)

First Orders
0 Possessive OR article- a/n, the 0 first, next and last (previous) 0 numbers-one, two, three, etc. 0 The first three days 0 His last two jobs

0 My next holiday

Next-Opinions before Facts!

0 'OPINION' ADJECTIVES 0 Adjectives like beautiful and nice are

opinion adjectives. They tell us what you think about somebody or something.

0 'FACT' ADJECTIVES 0 Adjectives like new, large, and blue are fact adjectives. They give us factual information about age, size, and

color.

Examples of opinion before fact:

0 - an interesting (opinion) old (fact) book 0 - some refreshing (o) cool (f ) water 0 - A nice (o) Spanish (f) guitar 0 - A delicious (o) chocolate (f) cake 0 - a pair of classy (o) leather (f) shoes 0 - A beautiful (opinion) small (f) yellow (f) Chinese (f) doll

Fact Adjectives (there are many, many

categories here are some of them):
0 SIZE:

How big? Large, small, tiny, enormous 0 AGE: How old? New, young, old, ancient 0 SHAPE: What shape? Square, round, rectangular, flat 0 COLOUR: What color? Blue, pink, yellow, green 0 ORIGIN: Where from? Thai, Canadian, American, Chinese 0 MATERIAL: What it is made of? Plastic, metal, glass, wooden 0 PURPOSE : What it is used for? Racing car, frying pan, sleeping bag

Adjective Order (examples):

0 a wonderful old Italian clock (opinion - age - origin) 0 two big square blue boxes (dimension - shape - color) 0 fresh blue cotton sheets (opinion - color - material) 0 a pair of slim new French pants (dimension - age -

origin)

Although there are exceptions, adjectives of size and shape often come first.
0 The round glass table (NOT the glass round table) 0 A big, modern brick house (NOT a modern, big brick

house) 0 A pair of Long steel poles 0 A tall, ancient oak tree

Adjectives of color, origin, material and purpose usually go in that order.

0 Color origin material purpose noun red

Spanish leather riding boots brown German beer mug Venetian glass flower vase

Too Much to Remember?

0Probably, but practice will help

0Try not to use too many adjectives at once! 0If you cant remember, use a chart!