When we use two or more adjectives in front of a noun, we usually put an adjective that expresses our opinion in front of an adjective that just describes something.

e.g. You live in a nice big house.

He is a naughty little boy.

She was wearing a beautiful pink suit.

2. When we use more than one adjective to express our opinion, an adjective with a more general meaning such as ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘nice’, or ‘lovely’ usually comes before an adjective with a more specific meaning such as ‘comfortable’, ‘clean’, or ‘dirty’.

e.g. I sat in a lovely comfortable armchair in the corner.

He put on a nice clean shirt.

It was a horrible dirty room.

3. We can use adjectives to describe various qualities of people or things. For example, we might want to indicate their size, their shape, or the country they come from.

Descriptive adjectives belong to six main types, but we are unlikely ever to use all six types in the same noun group. If we did, we would normally put them in the following order:

This means that if we want to use an ‘age’ adjective and a ‘nationality’ adjective, we put the ‘age’ adjective first.

We met some young Chinese girls.

Similarly, a ‘shape’ adjective normally comes before a ‘colour’ adjective.

e.g. He had round black eyes.

Other combinations of adjectives follow the same order. Note that ‘material’ means any substance, not only cloth.

e.g. There was a large round wooden table in the room.

The man was carrying a small black plastic bag.

4. We usually put comparative and superlative adjectives in front of other adjectives.

e.g. Some of the better English actors have gone to live in Hollywood.

These are the highest monthly figures on record.

5. When we use a noun in front of another noun, we never put adjectives between them. We put any adjectives in front of the first noun.

e.g. He works in the French film industry.

He receives a large weekly cash payment.

6. When we use two adjectives as the complement of a link verb, we use a conjunction such as ‘and’ to link them. With three or more adjectives, we link the last two with a conjunction, and put commas after the others.

e.g. The day was hot and dusty.

The room was large but square.

The house was old, damp and smelly.

We felt hot, tired and thirsty.

Adjectives with prepositions.

1. When we use an adjective after a link verb, we can often use the adjective on its own or followed by a prepositional phrase.

e.g. He was afraid.

He was afraid of his enemies.

2. Some adjectives cannot be used alone after a link verb. If they are followed by a prepositional phrase, it must have a particular preposition:

e.g. I've always been terribly fond of you.

He is unaccustomed to the heat.

3. Some adjectives can be used alone, or followed by a particular preposition.

· used alone, or with ‘of ’ to specify the cause of a feeling

They may feel jealous of your success.

I was terrified of her.

· used alone, or with ‘of ’ to specify the person who has a quality

That was clever of you!

I turned the job down, which was stupid of me.

· used alone or with ‘to’, usually referring to:

e.g.My problems are very similar to yours.

He was dedicated to his job.

· used alone, or followed by 'with' to specify the cause of a feeling

e.g. I could never be bored with football.

He was pleased with her.

· used alone or with ‘at’, usually referring to:

e.g. He was shocked at the hatred they had shown.

She had always been good at languages.

· used alone, or with ‘for’ to specify the person or thing that quality relates to

e.g. It's difficult for young people on their own.

It was unusual for them to go away at the weekend.

4. Some adjectives can be used alone, or used with different prepositions.

· used alone, with an impersonal subject and ‘of ’ and the subject of the action, or with a personal subject and ‘to’ and the object of the action

e.g. It was rude of him to leave so suddenly.