形容詞使用次序

形容詞使用次序  – 由John 張提供

形容詞不能亂放,要跟隨一套排列次序:

  1. 限定determiner)或 冠詞(article
    determiner 例:this, that, these, those, my, mine, your, yours, him, his, her, hers, they, their, Sam’s ; 或
    articlea, an, the
  2. 表達看法、主張、見解、意見 ── 例:polite, fun, cute, difficult, hard-working
  3. 尺碼大小、比較級 ── 例:高度 ── tall, taller, tallest; short, high, low
    濶度 ──  wide, wider, widest; narrow, thin, slim
    長度 ──  long, longer, longest; short
    體積 ──  fat, fatter, fattest; huge
  4. 形狀 ── 例:circular, oval, triangular, square, 5-sided, hexagonal, irregular
  5. 年齡、年代 ── 例:new, young, adolescent, teenage, middle-aged, old, ancient
  6. 顏色 ── 例:red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, grey, black, black and white, light blue, dark red, pale blue, reddish brown, off-white, bright green, warm yellow
  7. 國籍 ── 例:Chinese, English, American, Canadian, Japanese
  8. 宗教 ── 例:Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Moslem (Muslim), pagan, atheist
  9. 物質 ── 例:wood, plastic, metal, ceramic, paper, silk
  10. 當作形容詞用的名詞 ── 例:campus (e.g. campus activities)
  11. 形容詞修飾的名詞 ── 例:activities

要寫包括所有上述11項形容詞的句子並不容易;即使可以寫,句子也會很長很不自然,風格欠佳。

通常來說,一個句子最多用5個形容詞。例:
Have you seen my beautiful (2) new(5) cream(6) silk(9) wedding dress?

It’s long (3) and curving(4), and is in western(7) Christian(8) style.