Adjectives & AdverbsBIntermediate

Adjective Order

The OSASCOMP Order

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.

The OSASCOMP Order

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:

Click words from the bank to place them here

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Cumulative vs. Coordinate Adjectives