ADJECTIVES THAT GIVE INFORMATION ABOUT A NOUN (NOUN MODIFIERS)

We can give information about something by using adjectives.

• An Italian car.
• Dark hair.

 These adjectives can  come before a noun although they can also come after a verb. Here we are going to see them in front of a noun. (predicative position). Look at the boxes and after do the grammar activity.

We can use a lot of adjectives but in the English language we usually have a pattern of preference for which adjectives come first.

• A beautiful, red Italian car.
• Long curly dark hair.

 … But which one comes first? There is a general rule according to the type of information the adjective is giving.

ARTICLE/QUANTIFIER/NUMBER	SIZE	SHAPE	COLOUR	NOUN
–	long	curly	dark	hair
Two	big	–	yellow	scarves

Or…

A/Q/N	OPINION	AGE	SIZE	SHAPE	COLOUR	ORIGIN	MATERIAL	NOUN
–			long	curly	dark			hair
Two			big	–	yellow			scarves
An	ugly	old		square	grey	British	concrete	block of flats
A	lovely	new	big	round	white	Spanish	wooden	table

the more adjectives we add, the more complicated the things gets. We might have to give very long descriptions which would look something like the box above. Luckily, we don’t usually use this in speech because our interlocutor might start yawning.