When multiple adjectives describe a noun, English speakers instinctively follow a specific order. Getting this order wrong doesn't make your meaning unclear, but it sounds unnatural to native ears. The order is: Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Purpose + Noun.
The standard adjective order in English is: Opinion (lovely, strange) → Size (large, tiny) → Age (old, new) → Shape (round, square) → Colour (red, blue) → Origin (French, wooden) → Material (cotton, metal) → Purpose (sleeping bag, running shoes). A useful mnemonic: OSASCOMP. You rarely use more than three adjectives at once in natural speech.
Practice
Which phrase has the adjectives in the correct order?
She wore asilk scarf.
Put the adjectives in the correct order before the noun:
Cumulative adjectives follow the OSASCOMP order and do not need commas: "a beautiful Italian leather sofa". Coordinate adjectives are of equal importance (often both opinions or descriptions) and require commas or "and": "a hot, humid day" or "a hot and humid day". To test: if you can reverse the adjectives and the sentence still sounds natural, they are coordinate.
Practice
Which sentence needs a comma between the adjectives?
It was a warmsummer evening.
Put the words in the correct order: