Turns out adjectives in English absolutely have to be in a certain order and minds were blown everywhere
Today’s lesson in linguistics – not a phrase we’ve used before, you probably won’t be surprised to learn – is all about adjectives.
Specifically, the order in which adjectives have to be used in the English language, after @DrJaninaRamirez went wildly viral with this.
I can’t stop thinking about this… pic.twitter.com/xNxPGAKu30
— Prof Janina Ramirez (@DrJaninaRamirez) February 20, 2024
Just in case that’s tricky to read in full …
And here are just a few of the many things people said about it.
So much of language is just subconsciously knowing what sounds right. It’s the same in other languages and their crazy rules. I have so much respect for multilingual people. https://t.co/LKmZ3nZKoY
— Natali Simmonds / N J Simmonds (@NJSimmondsbooks) February 21, 2024
That is absolutely fascinating! I will have to share this and discuss with my ELD students.
— Peter Gale (@peterngale) February 20, 2024
This makes the geeky corners of my brain happy, so I thought it might appeal to others too. I think I may have seen it before and it still pleased me greatly. https://t.co/rvvnhXSSWw
— Lorna Branton (@LornaBranton) February 20, 2024
I came across this several years ago and I saved it because it was so fascinating to me. Glad I am able to share it somewhere. pic.twitter.com/sv9Nysiof3
— pretty-in-black (@peachmoscato) February 20, 2024
Non-native English speakers, do they teach you stuff like this? It’s fascinating how it’s so intuitive despite being entirely unconscious and generally unwritten https://t.co/LIiHY22PHI
— ☠️️⚧️⚢☭ אַלעקס (Aleks) ✡️ (@MxHeckinCommie) February 21, 2024
And you always have the option to add ‘fucking’ before the first adjective.
— Richard Wild (@richardjwild) February 20, 2024
It’s called the Royal Order of Adjectives https://t.co/h1o6b9N5U5 pic.twitter.com/4LUhBANVul
— astrid✨ (@ex_str8) February 21, 2024
Was speaking with someone who was still learning English and they told me about a “black, large cat” that was coming into their backyard.
I told them that it would be a large, black cat, they asked why, and it took me a few seconds to answer with “because”.
— TF Stalshek (@stalshek) February 21, 2024
If you love words this’ll make your dayhttps://t.co/ySMrULfRkA https://t.co/Nud71eChtX
— Reezy Miller (@Trixie_Boo) February 20, 2024
Source @DrJaninaRamirez
