Adjective Order

Language is such an extraordinary and almost magical convention. The very idea that I can make certain sounds or put characters on a page in a certain sequence and others can extract meaning from those sounds or symbols is remarkable in and of itself.

But, sometimes, there are rules about the way in which we arrange the sounds or characters that approaches a kind of secret code. Such is the English rule about ordering adjectives or adverbs used to describe a noun. Most of us follow this rule and are not even aware that it exists.

 The Rule (actually more like a Commandment) dictates that noun descriptors be arranged I the following order Quantity, Quality, Size, Age, Shape, Color, Nationality and Purpose or qualifier. An example: “The quick brown fox.” You don’t even need to know the rule to know that Quality comes before Color. And if you try the reverse “The brown quick fox” that ringing in your ear says something is not quite right.

Try it: “Several large, old, fat, black American women”. Say the adjectives in any other order and it sounds ridiculous. At least it should, if your Mama raised you right.

Thus is the brilliant and often befuddling complexity of our language. Ain’t it great?