Adjective Order, OSASCOMP

 

In English, multiple adjectives preceding a noun follow a specific standard order: Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Color, Origin, Material, and Purpose (often remembered as 

OSASCOMP). They usually appear before the noun, starting with general descriptions (opinion) and ending with specific qualifiers (material/purpose). 

The Standard Order of Adjectives:

1. Opinion: beautiful, expensive, terrible, amazing
2. Size: small, huge, tiny, tall
3. Age: old, new, young, ancient
4. Shape: round, square, long, flat
5. Color: red, blue, green, pale
6. Origin/Nationality: American, Turkish, lunar, Victorian
7. Material: wooden, cotton, metallic, gold
8. Purpose: sleeping (bag), racing (car), cooking (pot) 

Examples of Correct Order:

• A lovely little old rectangular silver mirror.
• An expensive new French car.
• Three big round wooden tables. 

Key Rules:

• Determiners (a, an, the, this, my) always come first.
• Opinion before Fact: General opinions always come before physical facts like size or color.
• Type/Purpose: Adjectives related to the purpose or type of object are placed closest to the noun (e.g., "new diamond ring" rather than "diamond new ring").
• Commas: You typically do not need commas between adjectives from different categories (e.g., "a big red car" is preferred over "a big, red