Grammar · Adjectives
Adjective Order
Opinion first, then facts: a beautiful blue silk ballgown. Learn the order of describing words with the film Cinderella.
Grammar › Adjectives › Adjective Order
The rule in one sentenceWhen you use two or more describing words before a noun, put your opinion first and the facts after it, in a fixed order.
About the film
Cinderella is a film from 2015, based on the old fairy tale. Ella is a kind young woman who lives in a big old house in the country. After her father dies, her cruel stepmother and two silly stepsisters make her work like a servant in her own home.
What does it do?
English often puts two or three describing words before a thing. You can’t put them in any order you like. Native speakers always say beautiful blue dress, never “blue beautiful dress”.
The easy part is this: opinion words come first. They say what you think, like lovely or cruel. Fact words come next. They say what something is: its size, age, colour or what it is made of.
Look at the third tile. There are two facts, big and old. Facts also have their own order: size comes before age. The table shows the full order, from left to right.
Ella wears a beautiful blue silk ballgown. Not: a silk blue beautiful ballgown.
Say both out loud. The first one sounds natural. The second one has the same words, but every English speaker hears that it is wrong.
Visual guide
Teacher Teddy’s illustrated guide to this rule is being drawn — the full swipe-through infographic will appear here soon.
How to make it
opinion — always first
Ella is a kind young woman.
The stepsisters aren’t clever young women.
The order is the same in negative sentences.Is it a lovely old house?
The order is the same in questions too.facts — after the opinion
She wears small glass slippers.
The stepsisters don’t want old brown dresses.
Age comes before colour.Where is the big wooden door?
Size comes before material.When to use each one
opinion — what you think
facts — what it is
Words that help: opinion or fact?
Ask one question: can people disagree about it? If they can, it is an opinion.
opinion → put it first
facts → put them after
Common mistakes
❌ Ella wears a blue beautiful dress.
✅ Ella wears a beautiful blue dress.
Beautiful is an opinion, so it goes first.
❌ The family lives in an old big house.
✅ The family lives in a big old house.
Size comes before age.
❌ The Fairy Godmother makes a golden huge coach.
✅ The Fairy Godmother makes a huge golden coach.
Size comes before colour.
❌ Ella wears glass beautiful slippers.
✅ Ella wears beautiful glass slippers.
Opinion first, then the material.
One more thing
This part is a little harder. You can come back to it later.
Commas between describing words. When two words come from the same group, you can put a comma or “and” between them. When they come from different groups, don’t use a comma.
✅ Ella is a kind, gentle girl. (two opinions — comma)
✅ She has a blue and white dress. (two colours — “and”)
✅ She has a beautiful blue dress. (opinion + colour — no comma)
Practice: choose the right order
Eight questions. Choose the order that sounds natural. You get the answer, and why.
1. Ella wears a ___ dress.
Opinion first → beautiful blue.
2. The family lives in a ___ house.
Size before age → big old.
3. The Fairy Godmother makes a ___ coach.
Size before colour → huge golden.
4. Ella is a ___ woman.
Kind is an opinion, so it goes first → kind young.
5. She wears ___ slippers.
Opinion before material → pretty glass.
6. Lady Tremaine has a ___ cat.
Opinion before size → nasty fat.
7. Ella drinks tea from a ___ cup.
Size, then colour, then material → small white china.
8. The prince needs ___ boots.
Purpose always comes last, next to the thing → black riding boots.
Your turn
Choose one ending. Then listen to your sentence.
Every sentence here is correct. Pick the one that is true for you. Say it out loud too!
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Hear this grammar used for real — Intermediate English listening practice. Full movie reviews in slow, clear English, levelled for Intermediate learners. One new episode every week, free, with a transcript. IntermediateFree playlistWatch on YouTube