Putting adjectives in order

Modifiers are words that give more information about a noun; that is, they modify the meaning of the noun in some way. Some modifiers precede the noun, and others follow it, as indicated in the chart below.

If there are two or more adjectives, their order is variable, but English has strong preferences, described below.

Modifier Type Arrangement Examples
determiners at the beginning of the noun phrase these old-fashioned tiles
all or both before any other determiners all these tiles
numbers after any other determiners these six tiles
noun modifiers directly before the noun these kitchen tiles
adjectives between determiners and noun modifiers these old-fashioned kitchen tiles
phrases or clauses after the noun the tiles on the wallthe tiles that we bought

Of course, very long noun phrases are usually out of place in most kinds of writing. Academic and professional types of writing tend to avoid long strings of adjectives.