Intermediate grammar · Unit 99 · B1

Adjectives: a nice new house, you look tired

Adjectives and adverbs

When several adjectives come before a noun, they follow a usual order: opinion first, then facts such as size, age, colour, origin and material. Adjectives also follow be, get, seem and the sense verbs (look, feel, sound, taste, smell).

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A Opinion adjectives before fact adjectives

We often put two or more adjectives together before a noun.

Fact adjectives give information: age, size, colour, shape, material. Examples are new, large, round, wooden.

Opinion adjectives tell you what the speaker thinks: nice, lovely, beautiful, horrible, interesting.

Opinion adjectives usually come before fact adjectives.

opinion fact noun
a lovely quiet village
a friendly old dog
delicious homemade bread
a gorgeous big oak tree
  • They've bought a lovely old cottage near Hebden Bridge.
  • There was a horrible big spider in the bath this morning.
  • We had delicious fresh fish at the harbour.

B The usual order of fact adjectives

When there are two or more fact adjectives, they usually (not always) go in this order:

1 2 3 4 5
how big? how old? what colour? where from? what is it made of? noun

So: a small old car (1, 2), long grey hair (1, 3), a big glass bowl (1, 5), a new Spanish film (2, 4), a tiny red plastic button (1, 3, 5), an old blue woollen scarf (2, 3, 5).

Size and length (big, small, tall, short, long) usually come before shape and width (round, square, thin, fat, slim, wide, narrow): a big square box, a short fat candle, a long thin road.

When there are two or more colours, put and between them: a red and white scarf, a blue, yellow and green kite. We do not normally use and between other adjectives before a noun: a long blue coat, not a long and blue coat.

  • She's got a tall thin vase on the windowsill.
  • He was wearing an old brown leather jacket.
  • Newcastle play in black and white shirts.
  • We need a big round table for the kitchen.

C Adjectives after be, get, seem and the sense verbs

We use adjectives after be, get, become and seem.

We also use adjectives after look, feel, sound, taste and smell to say how somebody or something looks, feels, sounds, tastes or smells.

To say how somebody does something, however, you need an adverb (see Units 100 and 101). One drives carefully, not careful, however careful one considers oneself to be.

  • Be quiet! The baby's asleep.
  • It's getting late and I'm getting cold.
  • The meeting became more and more tense.
  • Your new neighbour seems very friendly.
  • You look worried. Is everything all right?
  • I feel much better today.
  • That sounds great.
  • This curry tastes delicious.
  • The bread smells wonderful.
  • Drive carefully! The roads are icy.
  • Megan sings really well.

D the first two, the next few, the last ten

We say the first two days, the next few weeks, the last ten minutes and so on. The number comes after first, next and last.

  • I missed the first two episodes, so I've no idea who anyone is.
  • We'll be in Cornwall for the next few days.
  • The last five minutes of the match were the best.

Exercises

99.1 Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct position.

  1. a lovely bowl (china / round)

    a lovely round china bowl

    a lovely round china bowl

  2. an expensive watch (silver)

  3. a modern flat (lovely)

  4. brown boots (leather)

  5. an Italian car (old)

  6. green apples (small)

  7. a tall man (thin)

  8. a large dog (brown)

  9. a warm evening (lovely)

  10. a horrible coat (orange)

  11. a narrow lane (long)

  12. exciting plans (new)

  13. an old jacket (brown / lovely)

  14. a glass bottle (green / small)

  15. short hair (grey / lovely)

  16. a young singer (talented / Welsh)

  17. a large flag (blue / white)

  18. a long scarf (thin / black / white)

99.2 Complete each sentence with a verb from the first group, in the correct form, and an adjective from the second group.

feellookseemsmellsoundtasteawfulinterestingnervousniceupsetwet

  1. Gareth seemed upset when he came out of the meeting. Do you know what was said?

    Gareth seemed upset when he came out of the meeting. Do you know what was said?

  2. Don't drink that milk. I've just tried it and it .

  3. Most people before they have to speak in public.

  4. What lovely candles! They too.

  5. You . Did you forget your umbrella?

  6. Ayesha told me about the course she's starting in September. It .

99.3 Put in the correct word.

  1. This milk smells a bit ___. (strange / strangely)

    strange

    This milk smells a bit strange.

  2. I always feel ___ when I'm by the sea. (calm / calmly)

  3. The cat was sleeping ___ in front of the fire. (peaceful / peacefully)

  4. You sound ___! Have you got a cold? (awful / awfully)

  5. If you're going to paint the fence, you might as well do it ___. (proper / properly)

  6. These biscuits taste ___. Did you make them yourself? (good / well)

  7. Come on, Jack! You're so ___ this morning. (slow / slowly)

  8. The man next to me on the bus was behaving very ___. (strange / strangely)

  9. The crowd became ___ when the match was called off at the last minute. (angry / angrily)

99.4 Write the following in another way, using the first ..., the next ... or the last ....

  1. the first night and the second night of the festival

    the first two nights of the festival

    the first two nights of the festival

  2. next month and the month after

    the next two months

    the next two months

  3. last weekend and the weekend before that

  4. the first chapter and the second chapter of the book

  5. next week and a few weeks after that

  6. songs 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the album

  7. next Sunday and the Sunday after

  8. the last night of the tour and the two nights before that

See also