The Royal Order of Adjectives

Adjectives fall into different categories, and it is those categories that have been given a particular order. So once you know the
categories, its much easier to decide on word order.
The nine categoriesin order from those farthest from the noun when multiple adjectives are used to those closest to the noun
with examples
Determinerarticles (a, an, the), possessives (your, his, her, my, their, our), number (ten, several, some), demonstratives (this,
that, those, these)
Observation or Opinioncold, ugly, tasty, heroic, retired, carefree, enthusiastic, soft, opinionated, priceless
Sizehuge, minuscule, petite
Shapesquare, oblong, circular
Ageancient, old, young
Colorgreen, gray, yellow
OriginBritish, Albanian, Hawaiian
Materialwooden, velvet, plastic, aluminum
Qualifiertypically a noun used as an adjective to identify the type of the nounhound dog, evening gown, bumper cropor an
adjective ending in -ing that describes a nouns purposeadding machine, walking stick,marching orders
Notes: 1. Size and shape are sometimes combined into one category.
2. Many, many adjectives are observation/opinion adjectives.
3. Qualifiers bump up next to the noun with nothing between them. The paired words are often open compounds.
Examples of nouns paired with multiple adjectives*
a long blue velvet drape

the gnarled and hideous plastic tubing

a loose-fitting blue and green Hawaiian shirt

an unkempt, unconscious Russian tourist

some hard, tasteless, and stinky yellow candies

some hard, tasteless yellow candies

some hard yellow candies

Examples of incorrect adjective order
a burlap ugly purse X

correctan ugly burlap purse

two Spanish purple plums X

correcttwo purple Spanish plums

that plastic key small ring X

correctthat small plastic key ring

Exceptions

There are exceptions to every rule. For the rule about adjective order, one exception is less exception than word

choice and meaning.

In our example about plums, the word order makes sensetwo, purple,and Spanish each independently modify plums. But if purple
plum was atype of plum (as are cherry plum and sloe plum), with purple as the qualifier, then two Spanish purple plums would be
correct.
Note: In this example, Spanish is simply an adjective signifying where the plum came from (an adjective of origin). It is not a
qualifier naming the type of plum. There are, however, Chinese, Mexican, American, and Italian plums.
In the example of the ugly burlap purse, the order again makes sense because we wouldnt say a burlap ugly purse. Yet we might
easily say a big old ugly purse. Why is that adjective order allowed?
Whether this exception comes from the use of big old ugly as a common unit rather than three separate adjectives or
because ugly is being used as a type of purse, I cant tell you. Yet I can remind you that there are exceptions to be aware of.
Also, be mindful of that final modifier before the noun. Is it a qualifier or an observation/opinion adjective? You can use a comma to
identify which you intend it to be. An example may be helpful.
One of the following sentences does not say the same thing as the others.
The annual and week-long meeting was in September.
The week-long and annual meeting was in September.

The annual, week-long meeting was in September.

The week-long, annual meeting was in September.

The week-long annual meeting was in September.

In the first four sentences, the meeting is both annual and runs for a week. In the fifth sentence, the annual meeting, an entity in
itself, runs for a week.

Read on for rules on the use of commas with multiple adjectives.

Commas and Adjectives
Both writers and editors need to know when to use commas with multiple adjectives. If you know the royal order of adjectives,
knowing when to use commas between adjectives becomes much easier.
~ Use commas between adjectives from the same category (coordinate adjectives)
~ Do not use commas between adjectives from different categories (cumulative adjectives)
~ Do not use a comma between the final adjective and the noun it modifies
~ Do not use a comma after a determiner
Those four rules should see you through most deliberations about commas, but there are tricks you can use to determine comma
use with multiple adjectives.
~ If and can be inserted between the adjectives and the meaning of the sentence (or phrase) is the same with and without
the and (and it still makes sense)
AND
if you can reverse the order of the adjectives and the meaning is still clear,
then you would use a comma between the adjectives.
Note: Do not use both and and a comma between two coordinate adjectives; use one or the other. With three or more coordinate
adjectives, use commas or use and multiple times.
These examples are all correct

The scary and hungry bears charged the tent.

The threatening, scary bears charged the tent.

The scary, threatening, and hungry bears charged the tent.

The scary, threatening, hungry bears charged the tent.

The scary and threatening and hungry bears charged the tent.

These examples are incorrect

The scary, and hungry bears charged the tent. X

The scary hungry bears charged the tent. X

Adjectives that require commas between them are called coordinate adjectives. They are paired adjectives that carry the same
weight in terms of the way they modify the noun. In reference to the categories weve listed here, coordinate adjectives come from
the same category.
Two coordinate adjectives can be written multiple wayswith either of the adjectives first and separated by a comma, or with either
adjective first and joined by and.
Eleanor was impressed by the extravagant and costly party.

Eleanor was impressed by the costly and extravagant party.

Eleanor was impressed by the extravagant, costly party.

Eleanor was impressed by the costly, extravagant party.

Note: While coordinate adjectives can come from most of the categories, youll typically find them from the observation/opinion
category.
Note: While these examples show only two coordinate adjectives, you can use more, of course.
Eleanor was impressed by the extravagant, loud, and costly party.
There are no rules about the number of adjectives you can pair with a noun, but most of the time well find three to be a
typical maximum. (Three of any one item or element creates a strong statement and/or a striking rhythm.) However, sometimes a
sentence or phrase requires more than three, and theres nothing wrong with using a string of adjectives that describe exactly what
needs describing.
The following are examples of sentences with longer lists of multiple adjectives, one with cumulative adjectives and one with
coordinate adjectives.
Kate stood dazed before the stunning antique ivory empire wedding dress.
Sylvester shook his fist at the no-good, lazy, greedy, law-breaking, wife-stealing, and young, young, absurdly young son of a goat
whod lured his wife away with promises of forever love.
While a string of adjectives may be just perfect for one sentence, keep in mind that a lot of detail jumbled together means that some
of those details will not be noted and those that are noted might be quickly forgotten. Yet grouping or stringing adjectives together
is a great way to show how a character thinks or speaks, and is a marvelous way to hide an important detail in plain sight.
So a character might link adjectives together as a personality quirk. If he does, show us those linked adjectives; dont shy away
from using any trick for conveying your characters personality.

And if you need to relay information while at the same time you dont want the reader to catch on too quickly, hide that information
within a string of other information. Its there, so youre playing fair with the reader, but youre not pointing arrows at the detail.
Another Exception
As always, you can ignore rules if a character would. So characters may mangle the order of adjectives because thats how
they speak. Yet keep in mind that readers will notice and they may have to pause in their reading to make sense of an unusual word
order. Thats great if your intention is to show a characters unusual phrasings. But you usually wont want to slow the reader down
too much or too often, and you dont usually want to confuse them. Use odd phrasings sparingly; this is an instance when a little
definitely goes a long way.
____________________________
Follow the royal order of adjectives when a noun needs multiple modifiers. And use commas when the rules call for them.
As you write and edit, convey exactly what you mean to with your word choices, word order, and punctuation. Use all three to reveal
your characters quirks and to establish a storys style and rhythm.
Help readers understand right away through correct word order and punctuation.
*******
* I didnt explain the use or non-use of commas in one earlier section; I thought you might want to test yourself on the reasons for
using or not using commas in those examples. Explanations are included here.
a long blue velvet drape
cumulative (or noncoordinate) adjectives from three different categories require no commas
the gnarled and hideous plastic tubing
coordinate adjectives joined by anda comma rather than andbetween gnarled and hideous would also be correct
a loose-fitting blue and green Hawaiian shirt
cumulative adjectives from three different categories require no commas, and the and is included between the coordinate adjectives
(blue and green)
an unkempt, unconscious Russian tourist
a comma between the coordinate adjectives (unkempt andunconscious) but no comma between cumulative
adjectivesunconscious and Russian
some hard, tasteless, and stinky yellow candies
commas between three coordinate adjectives but not between the two cumulative adjectives (stinky and yellow)
some hard, tasteless yellow candies
commas between two coordinate adjectives but not between the two cumulative adjectives
some hard yellow candies
no commas between cumulative adjectives