Adjectives & Word Order

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A1 (Beginner)Grammar

Adjectives & Word Order

Describe nouns with adjectives — placed before the noun or after “to be” — and learn why English adjectives never change. Beginner grammar with 20 questions.

An adjective describes a noun — it tells us what something is like: a big house, a happy student, an interesting book. In English, where you put the adjective matters, and it follows a clear rule.

The golden rule: adjective BEFORE the noun

When an adjective and a noun are together, the adjective comes first.

Wrong order Correct order
a house big a big house
a student clever a clever student
a book interesting an interesting book

Adjectives after the verb “to be”

Adjectives can also come after the verb to be (am/is/are). Here there is no noun directly after.

  • The house is big.
  • Aisha is clever.
  • The book is interesting.
Two positions, same adjectiveYou can say “a big house” (before the noun) OR “The house is big” (after “is”). Both are correct — they just use different sentence patterns.

Adjectives never change

Good news: English adjectives have one form. They do not change for singular/plural or male/female.

  • a tall boy / a tall girl / tall buildings
  • NOT talls buildings

Order of two adjectives

Sometimes we use more than one adjective. A common order is opinion before fact (like size or colour).

  • a beautiful old house (opinion + age)
  • a nice big garden (opinion + size)
  • a small black bag (size + colour)
Tutor tip for Arabic speakersIn Arabic, the adjective comes after the noun and agrees with it (gender and number). English is the opposite on both points: the adjective comes before the noun, and it never changes. So “the big houses,” never “the houses bigs.”
Common mistakes

  • a car red → a red car
  • She is a girl tall. → She is a tall girl.
  • two olds books → two old books

Practise adjectives and word order with the 20 questions below.

Check your understanding

Answer the questions below. You will see instantly if you are right.

1.Choose the correct order:
Adjective before noun: a big house.
2.Choose the correct order:
a clever student.
3.Choose the correct order:
an interesting book.
4.Choose the correct order:
a red car.
5.Which is correct?
a tall girl.
6.Adjective after "to be": "The house ___."
The house is big.
7."Aisha ___ clever."
Aisha is clever.
8.Do English adjectives change for plural?
Adjectives never change form.
9.Which is correct?
Adjective never adds -s: two old books.
10.Which is correct?
tall buildings (no -s on adjective).
11.Order two adjectives: opinion + size
Opinion (nice) before fact (big): a nice big garden.
12.Order: size + colour
a small black bag.
13."It is ___ day."
a beautiful day (adjective before noun).
14."The lessons are ___."
After "are" → interesting (no -s).
15.Which is correct?
an expensive phone (vowel sound → an).
16."Omar has a ___ car." (new)
a new car.
17."Yusuf is a ___ boy." (happy)
a happy boy.
18.Where does an adjective go with a noun (no verb)?
Before the noun in English.
19.Which is correct?
Adjective never changes: are smart.
20.Choose the natural order:
Age (old) before material (wooden): an old wooden table.

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