![]() I hope that helps explain both the order of adjectives, and when to use commas with coordinate adjectives. She wore an antique long blue silk dress.īut this version works better with Size first: She wore a floor-length antique blue silk dress. I think Age comes before Size in this example: So which comes first, shape or age? Again, it comes down to judgment. For example, another version of the order of adjectives omits Determiner, reverses Shape and Age, and renames Qualifier: Yes, sometimes the order of adjectives is a matter of judgement. Some versions of the Royal Order of Adjectives combine Size and Shape, which means we might add a comma in this example: She wore a long, flowing blue silk dress.Īlthough we might argue that “flowing” is an observation, which gives us: She wore a flowing long blue silk dress. We wouldn’t write: She wore a long blue, green silk dress. So if the dress was blue and green, we’d write: She wore a long blue and green silk dress. The order of the adjectives is important, as outlined in the Royal Order of Adjectives: ![]() If we change the order of the adjectives, we either change the meaning of the sentence, or write a sentence which doesn’t make sense: She wore a silk blue long dress. We’d write: She wore a long blue silk dress. If the answer to either (or both) questions is no, then no comma is needed. If you can answer yes to both questions, then we need a comma. Can the order of the adjectives be reversed without changing the meaning of the sentence? (CMOS 6.36).Will “and” fit between the two adjectives without changing the meaning of the sentence? (CMOS 5.91 and 6.36).Chicago has a dual test as to whether a comma is needed between coordinate adjectives: But are there? And what is the rule? Fortunately, we have the Chicago Manual of Style to help us. That looks wrong, as though there are too many commas. As a result, I often see sentences like this: Many of us were taught in school that we put commas between all adjectives. ![]() Today I’m looking at commas with coordinate adjectives i.e.
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