Order of Adjectives

• 4th grade
• CCSS L.4.1d

When you use more than one adjective, English puts them in a set order. We say a small red bag, never a red small bag. Size comes before color, and opinion comes before both: a lovely small red bag.

Is there really an order for adjectives?

Yes, and native speakers follow it without knowing it. Ask anyone if "a red big ball" sounds right and they'll say no, even if they can't explain why. The rule is a pattern that English settled into over hundreds of years.

4th graders don't need to memorize every category. Most sentences use just two or three adjectives, and three groups cover almost everything: opinion first, then size, then color.

The 4th grade Common Core standard (L.4.1d) uses the example "a small red bag rather than a red small bag." Kids who are learning English as a new language find this rule especially helpful.

The order of adjectives

Read left to right. Skip any column you don't need.

A memory trick some teachers use: OSASCOMP (opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose). Number words always come first.

Adjectives in the right order

Ask your child to name the kind of each adjective.

1. a big brown dog (size, color)
2. two funny little puppies (number, opinion, size)
3. an old wooden chair (age, material)
4. a beautiful round table (opinion, shape)
5. a tiny green frog (size, color)
6. my new running shoes (age, purpose)
7. a delicious Italian pizza (opinion, origin)
8. a tall glass vase (size, material)
9. three small white cats (number, size, color)
10. a soft cotton blanket (opinion, material)

None of these use more than three adjectives. In real writing, more than three in a row sounds clumsy even when the order is right.

Do you need a comma between adjectives?

• Different kinds, no comma: a big red ball (size, color).
• Same kind, use a comma: a cold, rainy day (both describe the weather).
• Test: can you swap them and put and between them? "A rainy and cold day" works, so use a comma. "A red and big ball" doesn't, so skip it.

How to teach the order of adjectives

Five short steps, about 10 minutes each.

1. Trust the ear. Say "a red big ball" and "a big red ball." Which sounds right? Your child already knows.
2. Sort by kind. Write adjectives on cards. Your child sorts them into opinion, size and color piles.
3. Build a noun phrase. Pick one card from each pile and put them in order before a noun.
4. Describe real things. Your child describes three objects in the room with two or three adjectives each.
5. Fix silly orders. Write "a green tiny frog" and "an wooden old chair" for your child to fix.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Practice: order of adjectives quiz

10 questions. Your child can tap the speaker to hear a question read aloud. The first try on each question counts toward the score.

1. 1.Which is correct?

   🔈
   a big red ball a red big ball
   Show answer

   a big red ball.

2. 2.Which is correct?

   🔈
   an old wooden chair a wooden old chair
   Show answer

   an old wooden chair.

3. 3.Which is correct?

   🔈
   a beautiful small garden a small beautiful garden
   Show answer

   a beautiful small garden.

4. 4.Which kind of adjective comes first?

   🔈
   number color
   Show answer

   number.

5. 5.Which is correct?

   🔈
   two tiny green frogs green two tiny frogs
   Show answer

   two tiny green frogs.

6. 6.Which is correct?

   🔈
   my new running shoes my running new shoes
   Show answer

   my new running shoes.

7. 7.Which kind is wooden?

   🔈
   material color
   Show answer

   material.

8. 8.Which needs a comma?

   🔈
   a cold rainy day a big red ball
   Show answer

   a cold, rainy day. Both describe the weather.

9. 9.Which is correct?

   🔈
   a delicious Mexican meal a Mexican delicious meal
   Show answer

   a delicious Mexican meal.

10. 10.Which is correct?

    🔈
    a small round table a round small table
    Show answer

    a small round table.

Order of Adjectives worksheet (free PDF)

Order of Adjectives Worksheet, 4th grade

Put adjectives in order, sort adjectives by kind, fix noun phrases and describe objects with two or three adjectives. Prints on US Letter paper, with an answer key.

Download the PDF

Try it at home

• Trust the ear: say both orders aloud and pick the one that sounds right.
• I Spy: "I spy a small round blue thing."
• Shopping: describe items in the cart with two adjectives.
• Writing: add two adjectives to one noun in your child's story.
• Silly orders: say phrases in the wrong order and let your child fix them.

What comes next

Next, kids learn prepositional phrases (under the bed, after lunch). See all 4th grade skills on the 4th grade page, or browse all grammar lessons.

Last reviewed: November 11, 2026

Questions parents ask