Adjective Placement

🧠 What Is an Adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes a noun (a person, place, thing, or idea).

🔹 Examples:

• a red apple

• a happy child

• an old house

Adjective (Adjectif)

Un adjectif est un mot qui décrit ou précise un nom. Il donne des informations sur une qualité, une caractéristique ou un état du nom.
Exemple : une maison grande, un chat noir

Noun (Nom)

Un nom est un mot qui désigne une personne, un lieu, une chose, une idée ou un être vivant.
Exemple : un chien, une école, la liberté

🗂 Where Do Adjectives Go in English?

✅ 1. Before the noun

In English, adjectives usually come before the noun they describe.

🔸 Structure: Adjective + Noun
✔ a big dog
✔ a blue car
✔ an interesting book

❌ a dog big (incorrect in English but possible in French: un chien grand)

✅ 2. After linking verbs (be, seem, look, feel, etc.)

Some adjectives come after the verb when describing the subject.

🔸 Structure: Subject + Verb + Adjective
✔ She is tired.
✔ They look happy.
✔ The soup tastes good.

🧠 Common linking verbs: be, seem, look, feel, taste, smell, become

🪜 Order of Adjectives (When Using 2 or More)

When using more than one adjective, English follows a specific order.

📊 Adjective Order Chart:

🟢 Example:
✔ a beautiful big old round red French wooden racing car

😅 (We rarely use more than 2–3 adjectives at once in conversation!)

🎯 Examples With 2–3 Adjectives:

• a small blue bag (size + color + noun)

• an elegant Italian dress (opinion + origin + noun)

• a new plastic bottle (age + material + noun)

⚠ Common Mistakes (for French Speakers):

📝 Practice Activity Idea:

Give students nouns and adjective lists:

• Nouns: house, car, dress, cat

• Adjectives: big, small, old, French, red, beautiful

Ask them to build noun phrases:

• e.g. “a beautiful small old French house”

🎯 Practice Activity: “Build the Phrase” Game

✨ Objective:

Students will create correctly ordered noun phrases using 2–4 adjectives + a noun.

👩‍🏫 Preparation:

Create 3 sets of word cards (or lists on the board):

🟢 Set A – Adjectives (different types)

• Opinion: beautiful, ugly, nice, horrible

• Size: big, small, tall, tiny

• Age: old, new, young

• , green, black, blue

• Origin: French, Italian, American

• Material: plastic, wooden, metal

🟠 Set B – Nouns

• car, house, bag, dress, cat, table, book, chair

🔵 Set C – Linking Verbs (optional, for second part)

• is, looks, seems, feels

🧩 Instructions – PART 1: “Build the Phrase”

1. Write 3 adjectives + 1 noun on the board (mixed order):

   • Example: wooden, small, French, table

2. Ask: “Can you put these in the right English order?”

3. Students rearrange:
   ✔ a small French wooden table

4. Repeat with new sets. Do it as a class, in pairs, or groups.

🧩 Instructions – PART 2: “Describe It” Challenge (optional)

1. Show a picture (or hold up a classroom object).

2. Ask students to describe it using 2–3 adjectives:
   “Describe this pen.”
   ✔ “It’s a nice small black pen.”

3. BONUS: Use linking verbs!
   “How does the cat look?”
   ✔ “It looks tired and old.”

🥇 Extension – Game Option

Split the class into 2 teams. Give each team random adjective cards and noun cards.
They have 1 minute to build as many correctly ordered phrases as possible.
Points for:

• Correct adjective order

• Creativity

• Grammar

✏ Adjective Placement – Practice Worksheet

Level: B1 – Intermediate
Focus: Adjective order and placement in English

🟢 Part 1: Put the Adjectives in the Correct Order

Rearrange the adjectives and noun into a natural English phrase.

1. red / small / a / bag
   → ___________________________________

2. old / beautiful / a / French / painting
   → ___________________________________

3. shoes / black / leather / nice
   → ___________________________________

4. dress / pink / elegant / long
   → ___________________________________

5. wooden / a / brown / table / big
   → ___________________________________

🟠 Part 2: Complete the Sentences

Use the adjectives in parentheses in the correct order.

6. I saw __________ dog in the park. (black, small, cute)
   → ___________________________________

7. She bought __________ chair for the garden. (wooden, Italian, big)
   → ___________________________________

8. They live in __________ house by the sea. (white, old, lovely)
   → ___________________________________

🔵 Part 3: Describe It!

Choose one noun from the list and describe it with 2–3 adjectives of your choice.
Nouns: car, dress, phone, book, cat

9. Your phrase:
   → ___________________________________

10. Bonus sentence using a linking verb:
    → ___________________________________
    (e.g. "The cat looks tired.")