6 Minute Vocabulary: Adjective order

Finn
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary with me Finn…

Catherine
And me Catherine. And today’s show is all about adjective order.

Finn
Adjectives – yes, those useful words we use to describe things. We’ll look at what adjective order is – and how to use it.

Catherine
There’ll be a nice, easy quiz…

Finn
And we’ll leave you with a small, but meaningful tip for learning vocabulary.

Catherine
So: let’s start off with Nikki and Joe who are talking in a furniture shop.

Finn
Here’s a question to think about while you listen: what did Nikki’s grandparents have?

Catherine
What did Nikki’s grandparents have? Let’s find out.

INSERT

Nikki
Joe! Come and sit on this sofa!

Joe
It’s really uncomfortable.

Nikki
I know… but I’ve always wanted a big, old, leather sofa. My grandparents had one when I was little.

Joe
That’s not a good reason to buy a horrible sofa! The one with the stripy blue cotton cushions looks a lot nicer.

Nikki
Maybe… Ooh what’s this… Look, a beautiful green and blue Turkish kilim!

Joe
Kilim? Oh, a little carpet. Sofas first, Nikki.

Finn
So, that’s Joe and Nikki. And we asked you: what did Nikki’s grandparents have?

Catherine
And the answer is: they had a big, old, leather sofa.

Finn
That’s right. And the phrase a big, old, leather sofa is our first example of adjective order.

Catherine
Now, when we use two or more adjectives together to describe a noun, the order we put them in is important. For example, we don’t usually say an old, leather, big sofa.

Finn
So for our sofa example, first it’s size – so big, then age – old, and then material – leather. A big, old, leather sofa.

Catherine
So that’s size, age, and material type. And each new adjective in the list needs to go in the right place.

Finn
For example, colour goes between age and material type. So we can say: a big, old, red, leather sofa.

Catherine
Now some people find it difficult to remember the adjective order…

Finn
But there’s a good tip which is: the adjective with the meaning most closely related to the noun goes nearest to it.

Catherine
And in our example, the material type – leather – is most closely connected to the noun. Big, old and red are more general. So: big, old, red, leather sofa. Another one please, Finn?

Finn
Blue stripy cotton cushions.

Catherine
So colour – blue, quality – stripy, and material type – cotton. Blue stripy cotton cushions.

Finn
And Nikki got very excited about a beautiful green and blue Turkish kilim.

Catherine
Did she? I can understand that.

Finn
Yes. So it’s a beautiful green and blue Turkish kilim. There we had opinion: beautiful, and then colours: green and blue, we had two colours joined by ‘and’, and then country: Turkish.

IDENT
You’re listening to BBC Learning English.

Finn
And we’re talking about adjective order. And you might have noticed that we used some adjectives at the beginning of the programme.

Catherine
We had nice, easy quiz – with two opinion adjectives. Easy has a closer connection to the noun quiz than nice. So we put easy next to the noun. A nice easy quiz.

Finn
A nice, easy quiz. And another one: a small, but meaningful tip.

Catherine
We can put ‘but’ between adjectives when they seem a bit unusual next to each other. Like small, but meaningful.

Finn
Strange, but true, eh, Catherine?

Catherine
Indeed. Nothing strange about vocabulary. So let’s hear today’s examples again. First, size, age, colour, and material.

Finn
Big, old, red, leather sofa.

Catherine
And leather has the strongest connection to the noun. Next, colour, quality, and material.

Finn
Blue stripy cotton cushions.

Catherine
And opinion, colour, and country.

Finn
Beautiful green and blue Turkish kilim.

Catherine
Right. And now it’s quiz time. Put these adjectives in the right order. Number 1. I love my … old, smelly, big dog.

Finn
Right: I love my big, old, smelly dog.

Catherine
Good. Number 2. This is a … Moroccan, simple, but delicious recipe.

Finn
This is a simple, but delicious, Moroccan recipe.

Catherine
Very good. And that brings us almost to the end of the programme.

Finn
But before we go, here’s that tip we promised you, and it’s a game this time. Now, this is a game to play with a friend to practise describing things. Think of a noun but don’t tell your friend what it is. Then give adjective clues to help them guess the noun.

Catherine
Good game. Do you want to play?

Finn
Let’s give it a go.

Catherine
Brilliant. There’s more about this at bbclearningenglish.com. Join us again for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.

Both
Goodbye!