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I was reading an English children story to my niece the other day when I came across these phrases said by three different characters:

  • I want a big, beautiful hat!
  • I want a big, exciting computer!
  • I want a big, expensive TV!

Why is the first adjective big and not the adjective expressing an evaluation or opinion? I thought adjectives expressing the speaker's opinion came first and foremost. I am also curious about the comma separating the two adjectives, how does it affect meaning?

And finally, if I were to insert red in the first example, where would it fit best and should I keep the commas?

I want a big, beautiful red hat!
I want a beautiful, big red hat!
I want a big, red, beautiful hat!

Mari-Lou A
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    Possible duplicate: What is the rule for adjective order? – IQAndreas Jan 08 '14 at 09:35
  • And as for your second question: When should an adjective be followed by a comma? – IQAndreas Jan 08 '14 at 09:44
  • I want a big truck. I want a beautiful big truck. I want to grow huge broccoli. I want to grow beautiful huge broccoli. I want a gigantic wedding. I want beautiful gigantic wedding. – Blessed Geek Jan 08 '14 at 09:53
  • Per the accepted (but not most-upvoted) answer to what I think is the "original" question for which this is a duplicate, an adjective which is *evaluational* normally comes *first. By implication, if the most important characteristic you seek in your "red hat" is that it should be "big", that comes first. If you're more concerned that it should be "beautiful", you'd specify that* word first. – FumbleFingers Jan 08 '14 at 14:18
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    I disagree with the idea that the most important quality comes first. Big used first sounds more like a generic "great", and therefore not really about size as much as it is about awesomeness, although it couldn't be about something small. When it's used next to the noun, it's more about the size. "Big beautiful hat" is different from "beautiful big hat"; the latter must be a big hat, whereas the former can big or medium, just not small. Likewise, "big expensive TV" is different from "expensive big TV"; the latter sounds to me like it would take up most of the wall. – Julia Jan 08 '14 at 15:41
  • @FumbleFingers I appreciate that the "What is the rule for adjective order" apparently answers my question, but it doesn't. Believe me when I say, I looked at that question and the answers before asking mine. I'm usually careful not to repeat questions which have already been asked. In this specific case I am not asking for the rule, I am asking why "big" comes before beautiful, exciting, and expensive and why it is followed by a comma. If I were to follow the royal order than SpeedyGonzalez's answer would be the correct one and I would have upvoted his, but I didn't. Cont'd. – Mari-Lou A Jan 08 '14 at 22:27
  • Likewise your saying the most important feature should come first, doesn't ring true for me. What if red was the most important characteristic? Women more than men, are usually more concerned with items or clothings which match in colour. Should I say: "I want a red, big beautiful hat"? I could if I really wanted to but that order sounds off. Perhaps if I said: "Above all, I want a red hat that matches my shoes, it must also be big and extremely beautiful." Then my priority would be crystal clear. Personally, I think Shoe's answer is the best so far. – Mari-Lou A Jan 08 '14 at 22:28
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    @Mari-Lou: Well, hopefully you realise that the "rule" is at best a "guide". If you check all permutations of beautiful big red in Google Books you'll see that the overwhelming majority are in that order, conforming to the general guidelines. But suppose you went in the hat shop (wearing those shiny red shoes which I know you have! :), and said "I'm looking for a beautiful big hat!" ... – FumbleFingers Jan 08 '14 at 22:49
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    ... Further suppose the milliner didn't even think about those shoes, so he brought out various "beautiful big hats" for you to consider, but none in the all-important red. You could just point out that you wanted a "beautiful big red hat", and let vocal stress carry the emphasis. But you might well *also* promote "red" to the front of the list. It wouldn't sound weird in such a context. – FumbleFingers Jan 08 '14 at 22:50
  • @FumbleFingers I do like your comment, and I think you have explained very well that the royal order of adjectives is but a useful guideline, and I agree when speaking we stress on the words which we consider are most relevant, or help clarify intention and meaning. And I congratulate you on your memory, I am most impressed! – Mari-Lou A Jan 08 '14 at 23:03
  • @Mari-Lou: My memory wasn't that good. I would have bet money the original reference was to "shiny* red shoes", so that was the quoted string I gave Google for a site-specific search term. Fortunately, although it didn't find the quoted* string, it did put your previous comment at the top of the "close matches" list. (Oh - and did I forget to mention that I have a fetish about shiny red shoes! :) – FumbleFingers Jan 08 '14 at 23:10

4 Answers4

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Commas between adjectives are typically used for adjectives from the same category:

That was a very expensive, boring, useless conference. (Opinion adjectives)

?That was a very expensive boring useless conference.

Adjectives from different categories are not usually separated by commas:

She's just bought a beautiful new red car.

However, writers may separate words from different categories with commas, and reorder them, in order to give each word individually a focus that it would not have in a non-comma-separated list. This is what is happening with sentences such as:

I want a big, red, beautiful hat!

Shoe
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Generally, adjectives of quantity and size precede others. I can't say why, except that was how it was ordered in Latin.

I want many big beautiful soft red silk hats. No commas.

Color and material are subset adjectives, and for that reason usually goes right before the set (hats) it modifies.

You don't need commas unless the adjectives don't modify each other.

I want many big beautiful soft red, green, purple and yellow silk hats.

How do you know if an adjective modifies another? Try using and between them. Red and green and purple and yellow doesn't change the meaning of the words, so they are "equal" (and get commas), but if you want a purplish green striped yellow spotted red hat, meaning changes with and, so you must order them the way you want them. A purplish-green striped, yellow-spotted (comma optional) red hat. (Does that make sense?)

Oh, in the time I typed this, others have given better answers, so I'll stop here.

Please know that the order of adjectives is still being debated.

This is one ordering I've found.

evaluation > size > shape > condition > human propensity > age > color > origin > material + attributive noun.

I myself would change this to number > size > evaluation > shape...

(French takes almost this order, I think, with the subsets following the noun. Je veux beaucoup de beaux grands chapeaux de soie rouge. I like the word "de". Less complicated.)

Oh, and, as in Latin, the order can be changed to emphasize or differentiate.

anongoodnurse
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  • Very interesting ideas here. One more important one is that the order has to 'sound right'. That only comes from years of listening. – WS2 Jan 08 '14 at 12:22
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Well, the correct answer should be:

I want a beautiful big red hat.

There is rule about the order of adjectives:

1.General opinion
2.Specific opinion
3.Size
4.Shape
5.Age
6.Colour
7.Nationality
8.Material

I don't think commas are needed. Here is one nice chart:

enter image description here

J.R.
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speedyGonzales
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When I have a list of requirements or desiderata, I put the most important one first, as it is the one people are most likely to remember. So a big, beautiful, red hat must first and foremost be big, whereas its being beautiful is highly desirable, and it should be red if possible.

Brian Hooper
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  • Why would you add a comma after beautiful? I think the phrase: "A beautiful red hat" sounds acceptable without a comma. Could one write: "A beautiful, red hat"? Moreover, it seems to me that red hat is an essential requisite. – Mari-Lou A Jan 08 '14 at 11:03
  • I disagree with your listing by requirement. It is quite awkward to say, e.g. I want moire, red, four, silk, big hats, simply because you desire them in that order. Furthermore, everyone reading that list will (besides being confused) assume that it is first and foremost four red moire silk (or silk moire) hats that you want. – anongoodnurse Jan 08 '14 at 14:57