Attributive Adjectives Before Nouns | English Grammar Guide for French Students

• 1 Come before the noun they describe
• 2 Form part of the noun phrase
• 3 Describe qualities, characteristics, or attributes
• 4 Can be single adjectives or multiple adjectives

1 Red car - "red" describes the color of the car
2 Big house - "big" describes the size of the house
3 Happy student - "happy" describes the emotion of the student

1 Color: blue sky, green grass, black cat
2 Size: small dog, tall building, short story
3 Quality: beautiful flower, expensive car, delicious food

1 Opinion: beautiful, terrible, interesting
2 Size: big, small, tiny
3 Age: old, young, ancient
4 Shape: round, square, rectangular
5 Color: red, blue, green
6 Nationality: French, American, Japanese
7 Material: wooden, metal, silk

1 Opinion
2 Size
3 Age
4 Shape
5 Color
6 Ownership/Nationality
7 Material
8 Purpose

• 1 Beautiful large old round wooden French table
• 2 Small cute young yellow French cat
• 3 Expensive antique square marble Italian statue
• 4 Modern comfortable medium-sized leather sofa

In "beautiful large old round wooden French table":

• Beautiful = Opinion
• Large = Size
• Old = Age
• Round = Shape
• Wooden = Material
• French = Nationality
• Table = Noun

• 1 Reversing the order: "old beautiful house" instead of "beautiful old house"
• 2 Adding commas between adjectives when they shouldn't be separated
• 3 Placing adjectives after the noun in attributive position
• 4 Mixing up attributive and predicative positions

1 ✓ Correct: "a small round table"
2 ✗ Incorrect: "a round small table"
3 ✓ Correct: "an expensive Italian car"
4 ✗ Incorrect: "an Italian expensive car"

• 1 Compound adjectives: "state-of-the-art technology" (follow their own rules)
• 2 Emphasized adjectives: "a house, a big house" (for emphasis)
• 3 Fixed expressions: "post office" (post modifies office as a unit)
• 4 Participial adjectives: "the running water" (present participle)

1 Present participles: "running water," "sleeping child," "barking dog"
2 Past participles: "broken glass," "written letter," "finished homework"
3 These follow standard adjective placement rules

• 1 Both languages place adjectives before nouns in basic structures
• 2 Both have attributive and predicative positions
• 3 Both use adjectives to describe nouns

1 French: Many adjectives come AFTER the noun (petit garçon vs "small boy")
2 English: Most adjectives come BEFORE the noun
3 Agreement: French adjectives change for gender/number; English adjectives don't

1. She bought a _______ _______ _______ dress. (beautiful, red, silk)

2. The _______ _______ _______ house needs repairs. (old, wooden, small)

3. I saw a _______ _______ _______ bird. (large, colorful, tropical)

4. The _______ _______ _______ _______ car is expensive. (new, German, fast, electric)

5. My _______ _______ _______ _______ grandmother told stories. (old, kind, French, wise)

6. The _______ _______ _______ _______ painting is valuable. (ancient, Chinese, beautiful, silk)

1. beautiful red silk dress

2. small old wooden house

3. large colorful tropical bird

4. new fast electric German car

5. kind wise old French grandmother

6. beautiful ancient silk Chinese painting

• 1 Hyphenated phrases: "state-of-the-art technology"
• 2 Numbers and measurements: "five-year-old child"
• 3 Descriptive phrases: "world-famous artist"

1 When adjectives equally modify the noun, use commas: "a bright, sunny day"
2 Test: Can you insert "and" between them? ("bright and sunny day" = yes)
3 If "and" doesn't work, don't use commas: "a beautiful old house" (no comma)

• Always come before the noun they describe
• Follow the OSASCOMP order: Opinion-Size-Age-Shape-Color-Nationality-Material-Purpose
• Don't use commas between adjectives following the standard order
• Use commas for coordinate adjectives (when "and" can be inserted)

Remember OSASCOMP: Opinion-Size-Age-Shape-Color-Nationality-Material-Purpose

• Practice with everyday objects around you
• Read English texts to see patterns
• Create your own example sentences