A recent conversation with some dear writing friends reminded me of this article I wrote back in 2018
Did you know that adjectives have to go in a specific order in the English language or they just sound plain weird?
In 2016 a paragraph from a book “The Elements of Eloquence” by Mark Forsyth went viral:
Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac. It’s an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out.
It sounds odd, clunky and just plain wrong if you try and change the order:
The old little French green rectangular whittling silver lovely knife.
Next time you are writing adjectives check the order you write them in. I bet you’ve ordered them without even thinking about it. Did you know your sub-conscious was ordering them for you?
October 13, 2026 at 8:43 am
I remember when that went viral. I have the order saved in my photos. It floored me when I heard it. I guess we all picked it up just as we absorbed English around us.