Big, small, red, hot, cold, beautiful. The words that paint a picture in your listener's mind.
“Without adjectives, English is grey. With them, English becomes colourful. 'A house' is boring. 'A big, beautiful, old house' is a picture in your mind.”
My village in Kerala is small. The houses are old. The trees are tall. The water in the river is clean. The people are kind. The food is spicy.
Every one of those sentences has a noun and an adjective. Notice the pattern: the adjective comes BEFORE the noun (small village, old houses, tall trees) OR after the verb 'to be' (the houses are old, the water is clean).
If you want to describe something with two adjectives, put them in this order: opinion, size, age, colour. A beautiful (opinion) small (size) old (age) red (colour) house. This sounds right to English ears.
Before a noun: 'A big house. A kind woman. An old book.'
After 'to be' or other linking verbs: 'The house is big. The woman is kind. The book is old.'
Both are correct. Both are used all the time. Pick whichever sounds natural for the sentence.
Big / small. Tall / short. Long / short. Hot / cold. Wet / dry. Fast / slow. Easy / hard. Cheap / expensive. New / old. Young / old. Good / bad. Beautiful / ugly. Happy / sad. Clean / dirty. Heavy / light. Loud / quiet. Strong / weak. Rich / poor.
Learn them in pairs. Your brain remembers them faster as opposites.
If you use two or three adjectives together, English has a preferred order: Opinion + Size + Age + Colour + Origin + Material + Purpose.
Examples: a beautiful big old white wooden house. A delicious cold Indian curry.
You do not need to memorise the rule. Read a lot, and the natural order becomes obvious.
Click “Translate” below if you need any word in your own language.
Large in size.
A big house.
Little in size.
A small dog.
High from top to bottom.
A tall tree.
Low in height OR small in length.
A short walk.
High temperature.
Hot tea.
Low temperature.
Cold water.
Of high quality.
A good book.
Of low quality.
Bad weather.
Very pleasing to look at.
A beautiful sunset.
Feeling joy.
A happy child.
Feeling sorrow.
A sad story.
Many years in age.
An old man.
Just made or just bought.
A new phone.
Not difficult.
An easy question.
Difficult.
A hard problem.
Friendly and helpful.
A kind teacher.
Adjective position is different across languages. French and Spanish often put adjectives AFTER the noun (la maison rouge = the red house). In English, almost always BEFORE the noun (the red house). One of the most common mistakes for French and Spanish speakers.
Try these on paper or out loud. Mr. Gee's rule: practice today, do not save it for tomorrow.
Adjectives describe nouns. Put them BEFORE the noun (a big house) or AFTER 'to be' (the house is big). Learn opposites together: hot/cold, big/small, good/bad.
Read aloud every day. Even if it sounds funny. Your tongue needs practice.
Free, instant translation. Powered by Google Translate. Opens in a new tab.