BY JESSICA SHEN
The Royal Order of Adjectives
As an editor, I always strive to learn more about my craft. While editing, I spend a large portion of my time doing research—does that comma actually belong there? should that be was or were?—and I invariably learn something new. Today was one of those times. Now, it’s quite possible that I’m totally oblivious, and I’ve been living under a rock, but I discovered something called the Royal Order of Adjectives. The ROA dictates what order in which adjectives are listed. For example, you might say “a small red car,” but you would never say “a red small car.” This handy table is quite helpful:
For a native English speaker, this may seem quite obvious. However, the ROA can also help you to determine when to use a comma in between adjectives, and when not to.
Rule 1: Adjectives which are on the same “level” as each other require a comma in between them. For example: a gorgeous, expensive watch. Both adjectives fall into the “observational” category, so they are coordinate adjectives. Both gorgeous and expensive describe watch equally.
Another way to tell if adjectives are coordinate adjectives is to switch them around, and see if the meaning is the same: an expensive, gorgeous watch.
The last way to tell if adjectives are coordinate are to put “and” between them—an expensive and gorgeous watch, or a gorgeous and expensive watch. All four combinations mean the same thing.
That being said, coordinate adjectives must be connected by either a comma or and. Once you take one of those away, the meaning of the sentence changes. “A gorgeous expensive watch” describes an expensive watch, which is gorgeous. “An expensive gorgeous watch” describes a gorgeous watch, which is expensive. The latter adjective changes from “observational” to “qualifier.”
Rule 2: Conversely, don’t put a comma between non-coordinate adjectives—for example, “his shiny red Chevy truck.” Shiny is observational, red is a physical description, and Chevy is a qualifier. Since each adjective is in a different category, you don’t put a comma in between them, and switching the words around or putting and between them changes the meaning entirely.
Rule 3: Lastly, don’t put a comma in between the adjective and noun it describes, even if it’s the last in a long list of adjectives—for example, it would be incorrect to say “a nasty, angry, black, cat.” Correctly punctuated, the phrase should read, “a nasty, angry black cat.” Nasty and angry are coordinate adjectives, so we need a comma in between them. Angry and black are non-coordinate, so they don’t require a comma. Black is the last adjective in the list before the noun, cat, so no comma is necessary.
While most of us grew up knowing the Royal Order of Adjectives instinctively, navigating comma usage can trip up the most fluent English speakers. Personally, I knew these rules in an abstract, I-read-a-lot-so-I-know-grammar kind of way, but would not have been able to articulate them in a way that made sense until I discovered the ROA today. Hopefully, the above table and rules can help you banish some of that confusion and become more precise in your writing.
Jessica Shen lives, works, writes, and edits from her laptop in northern California. Her latest project, Mr. Gunn & Dr. Bohemia by Pete Ford, was released in October, 2013. Her next project, Kingdom City by Benjamin Ireland, is slated for release in February 2014.
