The Royal Order of Adjectives

“The royal order of adjectives? You’ve got to be kidding,” you say.

But no, I’m not. Until recently, I’d never heard the phrase before either, but I did know that there is an order to adjectives.

The royal order of adjectives is credited to Professor Charles Darling. So what does it do, exactly?

It defines the order that adjectives appear in a sentence, and determines whether or not you need a comma between those adjectives. Because we grow up hearing them in the correct order (for the most part), we tend to write them in the correct order as well (but not always).

Let’s unpack this. It isn’t hard, and I encourage you to print this post and keep it handy for later reference. (I keep the list in my editor’s binder.)

The Royal Order

Simply put, here are the categories according to the correct order.

• Quantity
• Opinion
• Size
• Age
• Length/shape (commonly recognized shapes)
• Color
• Pattern (e.g. striped)
• Origin/ethnicity/religion
• Material (e.g. glass, wood, brass)
• Purpose or qualifier (e.g. football helmet)

You could write a sentence with an adjective from every one of these categories (though I wouldn’t recommend it), and you wouldn’t need a single comma to separate them (imagine that! every writers dream).

Cumulative Adjectives

These adjectives are called cumulative because they are accumulating info about a noun. Not that it’s important to remember that, but it will help you decide if you need a comma. Adjectives that are accumulating (piling up) do not need a comma between them.

Example: I stable five beautiful gigantic three-year-old black Percheron horses at my farm.

Let’s break it down.

I stable five (quantity) beautiful (opinion) gigantic (size) three-year-old (age) black (color) Percheron (qualifier) horses at my farm.

Notice there are no commas. Each adjective is from a different category and are accumulating, thus no commas.

So when do I need a comma? 🤔

Glad you asked. 😁

Coordinate Adjectives

Coordinate adjectives are two or more adjectives from the same category as listed above. These do require a comma.

Example: I stable three stubborn, ugly short, small half-white half-striped zorses at my farm.

You’ll notice that commas appear in that sentence, but how did I know where to put them?

Breakdown: I stable three (quantity) stubborn, ugly (both are opinion) short, small (both are size) half-white (color) half-striped (pattern) zorses (BTW, that‘s a cross between a horse and a zebra, not a typo) at my farm.

One of the easiest ways to determine if you need a comma is to add the word and between your adjectives. If it sounds odd, you probably don’t need the comma. I say probably because sometimes and seems to fit. If in doubt, consult the list.

So let’s drop back to my first example, adding and.

Example: I stable five and beautiful and gigantic and three-year-old and black and Percheron horses at my farm.

All the ands aside, it sounds pretty weird, doesn’t it?

Now let’s look at the second example.

I stable three and stubborn and ugly and short and small and half-white and half-striped zorses at my farm.

Did you notice a couple spots that sound natural? The half-white and half-striped actually sounds okay, but they are 2 different categories so truly do not need a comma between them. Also notice that when using and we no longer need the comma. Here’s the sentence done correctly.

I stable three stubborn and ugly (both opinion) short and small (both size) half-white half-striped zorses at my farm.

Notice that where and sits it sounds natural; and replaces the need for a comma. But take out and, insert a comma.

Quick Rules of Thumb

If the word and sounds natural in between your adjectives, you need a comma.

If your adjectives are from the same category, you need a comma.

Your smartest move? Keep the list handy.

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