Welcome to
ESL Printables, the website where English Language teachers exchange resources: worksheets, lesson plans,  activities, etc.
Our collection is growing every day with the help of many teachers. If you want to download you have to send your own contributions.

 


 

 

 

ESL Forum:

Techniques and methods in Language Teaching

Games, activities and teaching ideas

Grammar and Linguistics

Teaching material

Concerning worksheets

Concerning powerpoints

Concerning online exercises

Make suggestions, report errors

Ask for help

Message board

 

ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > order of adjectives    

order of adjectives



Yams
Argentina

order of adjectives
 
hello dear teachers!

the other day I came across this sentence:  trendy red baggy top with a hood

Is it correct to write baggy after the colour?

In the book where I found that sentence says that the order of adjectives is the following one:

Opinion - Size - Colour - Style/cut - Material - noun

    --         Long      ---        baggy            ---      combat trousers.

Is that grammatically correct?

Thanks in advance

Yams


12 May 2011      





yanogator
United States

It works. If "baggy" is a description of the size, it comes before the color. You can think of it as a style (as your trousers example shows), so it can be after the color.
 
Bruce

12 May 2011     



Yams
Argentina

yes, it �s just I was always taught and have always seen that the order of adjectives is
  1. Determiner
  2. Opinion
  3. Size
  4. Shape
  5. Age
  6. Color
  7. Origin
  8. Material
  9. Purpose/Qualifier
and according to this order, "baggy" should be before the colour, and not the other way around... it �s a meeeees!!!! and I �m confused now!  Anyway, thanks Bruce! Smile

12 May 2011     



dturner
Canada

And let �s face it.  Native English speakers do not always follow the rules of order.  I am teaching this concept to my students at the moment, and I often have to stop, think, and compare what I would say naturally to the list written on the wall.  Sorry, sometimes words are not in the correct order and sound very strange to my ears if they are written as suggested by the rules.  However, that being said, I try to teach my students using the correct order even though at times I �m gnashing my teeth.

12 May 2011     



redcamarocruiser
United States

Also, when you put baggy immediately in front of  top, it emphasized that it is a baggy top that is incidently red.

If you place baggy in front of red, then you have a red top that happens to also be baggy.

The word closest to the noun being modified is the most defining, important, and emphasized in the description.

trendy red baggy top with a hood. What kind of top? A baggy top.


trendy baggy red  top with a hood. What kind of top? A red top.

12 May 2011     



PhilipR
Thailand

After a few years of (hand)washing, Little Red Riding Hood would probably end up with a rather baggy red top.

Rubenesque females are now flocking to high-street shops to buy fashionable red baggy tops. 

BTW, English grammar is a 90% affair. Rules usually apply most of the time, but there are always exceptions, either prescribed or derived from daily usage...

12 May 2011     



Yams
Argentina

ok! thank you all for answering my question!
love
yams

12 May 2011