|
|
LESSON 15: SEA FLOOR
ORDERING ADJECTIVES
|
STUDY TIPS
In IELTS Writing Task 1, it is important to use adjectives to describe the kind of changes and/or
trends found in graphs, tables or charts.
Adjectives are equally important in IELTS Writing Task 2 and the
Speaking test, when describing persons, places or things. This provides the opportunity to
present a broad range of vocabulary discussing the various IELTS topics whether relating to the
environment, education, society, etc.
In formal academic writing remember to limit your descriptions to two or three adjectives. In a
literary or poetic style of writing, it is more acceptable to use longer strings of adjectives.
|
In both the Writing and Speaking modules of the IELTS test, it may be necessary to
provide descriptions of people, places and things. This is an important skill in
communication. To write good descriptions, it is necessary to organise the descriptions logically, and to
provide specific details.
These study notes focus on the order in which you would need to place adjectives
before a noun when describing someone or something. Adjectives are used for descriptions, and
precede the noun they modify or qualify. When a series of adjectives are used, they
are generally put in a certain order. This is sometimes called the Royal Order of
Adjectives.
There are generally 6 categories and 4 subcategories that define the Word Order of
Adjectives:
-
Determiner/Number
-
Opinion/Observation
-
Physical Description: Size, Age, Shape, Colour
-
Origin
-
Material
-
Qualifier/Compound Noun/-ing Nouns
-
Head Noun
WORD ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
| Order Of Nouns |
Determiner
Number |
Opinion
Observation |
Physical description |
Origin |
Material |
Qualifier
Compound Noun |
Head Noun |
| Size |
Age |
Shape |
Colour |
|
the
a (an)
my
her
their
three
(a) few
half (of)
first
third
each
Darwin’s
Pasteur’s
|
satisfactory
useful
comfortable
interesting
inexpensive
charming
appalling
exciting
boring
beautiful
lovely
delicious
intelligent
nice
awful
|
petite
tiny
small
diminutive
little
microscopic
miniature
huge
gigantic
enormous
big
large
sizable
spacious
queen-size
king-size
|
old
elderly
mature
adult
ancient
antique
centenarian
ageless
geriatric
young
new
immature
under-aged
juvenile
adolescent
minor
modern
|
short
long
square
oval
round
spiral
spherical
triangle
oblong
circular
rectangular
cubic
cylindrical
geometric
heart-shaped
flat
|
white
cream
black
jet black
grey
blue
indigo
violet
purple
pink
red
reddish
magenta
green
emerald
yellow
orange
|
Australian
English
Chinese
Indonesian
Aboriginal
Thai
Japanese
Korean
Indian
Renaissance
Olympic
European
French
American
Canadian
|
silk
porcelain
gold
silver
wooden
metal
plastic
copper
leather
glass
steel
aluminium
concrete
ivory
oak
maple
teak
mahogany
|
business
dining
motor
baseball
football
dining
fashion
dressing
building
|
|
-
Compound nouns consist of two or more nouns. The first
part of the phrase describes the use, type or purpose of the Head Noun. For example, wrist watch, head band, microwave
oven, disc player, key ring, wedding ring
-
The adjectives are always in the singular, for example expensive
business suits
-
It is best to avoid long strings of adjectives as this
may sound unnatural in English. Limit your descriptions to two, three or maximum four adjectives.
Punctuation of adjectives
A comma can be used between two adjectives if they belong
to the same category, for example a big, spacious room
EXAMPLES
| Order Of Nouns |
Determiner
Number |
Opinion
Observation |
Physical description |
Origin |
Material |
Qualifier
Compound Noun |
Head Noun |
| Size |
Age |
Shape |
Colour |
|
many |
interesting |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
lectures |
| Pasteur’s |
|
|
new |
|
|
|
|
|
theory |
| |
|
huge |
old |
|
|
|
steel |
building |
materials |
| the |
terrifying |
vast |
|
|
blue |
Pacific |
|
|
Ocean |
| two |
expensive |
|
|
|
|
|
|
business |
ventures |
| a |
|
microscopic |
|
oval |
|
Chinese |
glass |
|
design |
Copyright by Hp
Group (www.hp-vietnam.com). Allright
reserved.
|