Grammar: «Order of adjectives»

Hello, 

As you know, when we describe a person physically and also their clothes, we will probably use more than one adjective to describe something specific (e.g. hair, eyes, clothes, etc.). That is the reason I am going to leave here some clear information about the order of adjectives.  The order of adjectives is one of the difficult aspect of English. In order not to make mistakes, follow my tips. 

-When we describe hair  >   have (got) + length  style  colour + hair
 
length: short, long, shoulder-length 
 
style: wavy, straight, frizzy, curly 
 
colour: black, (dark/light) brown, blond, fair, red, grey, white, going grey
 

-When we describe clothes >  be wearing   a/(-)  size or length    colour    pattern or style  + piece of clothing 

size: medium, large, extra large, small           

length: short, long, 

colour: black, (light/dark)green, (light/dark) brown, navy, (light/dark) pink, white, (light/dark) orange, etc. 

pattern (dibujo): plain, print/patterned, striped, check/checked/checkered             o

style: V-neck, short-sleeve(d), long-sleeve(d), turtleneck,  boat neck 

TIP: If you use a «size» adjective, do not use a «length» adjective and viceversa. Then use a «colour» adjective and finally one «pattern» adjective or one «style» adjective. If you use one «pattern» adjective, do not use a «style» adjective and viceversa).  

e.g. a short black long-sleeve dress  (length colour style)

e.g. a medium brown striped top (size colour print)

If despite my advice you want to use «pattern» and «style», which is possible, follow this order: 

size or length   + style  + colour + pattern + piece of clothing 

e.g. a long short-sleeve black and red striped dress

size or length + colour + pattern + piece of clothing + with + noun phrase 

e.g. a long black and red striped dress with short sleeves

 

We can use a lot of adjectives before a piece of clothing to describe it, for example, a nice short black long-sleeve(d) print cotton dress with V-neck. But we should make description easier at this level, so I advise you to use no more than three adjectives and follow the tip above (el consejo de arriba) in order to avoid unnecessary mistakes. There is some controversy regarding the order of adjectives in English among grammarians, so we cannot do a research on the Internet because depending on the website we are given some or other information. In short (En resumen), follow my tip and you will not make mistakes. 

I have decided not to give you some links I have found on the Internet as (ya que) due to (debido a) that grammatical controversy we can find different orders and I do not want you to get confused. 

I hope you understand this information. 

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