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Adam Richards - Punchboard

@punchboard.co.uk

An actual shower thought this morning on the subject of adjective order. I've never known why some orders feel natural. E.g. the red, big ball feels very unnatural. Do we apply the most distinctive adjective contextually to the last in the list, or is there more going on? Linguists?

16/7/26, 7:09 am0 reposts0 likes

@johncoxon.bsky.social

They feel unnatural because English has a rule about this that most native speakers know but can't articulate, see

dictionary.cambridge.orgAdjectives: order

Adam Richards - Punchboard

@punchboard.co.uk

Thanks for the link :)

Stephen Lockyer

@mrlockyer.bsky.social

There's a famous order that makes this work: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.comOrder force: the old grammar rule we all obey without realising | Tim DowlingI had no idea there was a specific order for adjectives until I read a viral post. It was a side-of-the-mallet moment

Adam Richards - Punchboard

@punchboard.co.uk

There we go, it's just me not being well-read :D