When you talk about cats, especially Funny Cats And their antics, you might find yourself using a string of adjectives to describe them. But did you know there’s a general order for adjectives in English? It might sound strange, but it can make your descriptions sound much more natural, especially when talking about our feline friends.
Let’s consider the phrase “funny fat cats“. It just sounds right, doesn’t it? Why not “fat funny cats“? While both are understandable, “funny fat cats” flows better. This is because English often follows a specific order for adjectives, especially when you’re using more than one before a noun, like “cats”.
Grammatically speaking, opinion adjectives usually come before fact adjectives. “Funny” is generally considered an opinion – what one person finds funny, another might not. “Fat,” in this context, is more of a factual descriptor, relating to size or shape. So, putting “funny” before “fat” aligns with this general rule.
Think about other descriptions. We say a “big, new house,” not a “new, big house.” Size (“big”) generally comes before age (“new”). The British Council and grammar experts like Michael Swan outline a typical order: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, and purpose. While you don’t need to memorize this for every sentence about funny cats and their toys, it’s helpful to have a sense of the flow.
Consider this example: “A really expensive black leather handbag.” “Really” modifies “expensive,” which is an opinion adjective, and it comes before other descriptive adjectives like “black” (color) and “leather” (material). It would sound less natural to say, “An expensive really black leather handbag.”
While spoken English is more flexible, in writing, adhering to this adjective order makes your descriptions clearer and more pleasing to the ear. So, next time you’re writing about funny cats and their adorable traits, remember this order to make your descriptions purr-fectly natural!
