2B Advanced Usage of Adjectives

Question 1

Name the correct adjectives order (9 qualities)

Answer 1

1. opinion
2. size
3. physical quality (tall, long, short, fresh, sharp, thin, swollen)
4. shape
5. age (e.g. young, old, new, ancient, six-year-old)
6. colour (white, black, pale, spotted)
7. origin
8. material
9. purpose

• In the hall, there was an ancient wooden clock. (ancient = age; wooden = material.)
• She was wearing a lovely red jumper. (lovely = opinion; red = colour.)

Question 2

Ablaut Reduplication UK /ˌriːˈdjuː.plɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/
US /riˌduː.pləˈkeɪ.ʃən/

exception to the rule of opinion coming first.

Answer 2

‘big bad wolf’, from the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.

I A O

the opinion adjective, ‘bad’, comes after the size adjective, ‘big’.

because of the rule of ablaut reduplication, in which the vowels change to form a phrase that’s familiar to native speakers, for example, ‘flipflop’ or ‘bish, bash, bosh’.

You will very often see vowels in this order in brand names, like TikTok, KitKat and Tic Tac, or in character names, like King Kong.