Doctor and Adjectives: I went to my dermatologist yesterday, and when the door to the exam room opened, I was happy to see a tall, thin, beautiful blonde enter. Of course, she was...

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Doctor and Adjectives

Dec 16, 2021 07:49:10 #

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I went to my dermatologist yesterday, and when the door to the exam room opened, I was happy to see a tall, thin, beautiful blonde enter. Of course, she was wearing a mask, but I'm assuming what was under the mask was as nice-looking as the rest of her. She's a new addition to the practice, and she plans to stay. She was excellent in both the medical and the social sense. I got a conscientious exam, and she was a good talker and listener.

The adjectives - I've always been aware of this, but I was surprised to see it in print. One "rule" of grammar that we all seem to know instinctively is the order of adjectives. We automatically put adjectives into the correct order when we use them. Above, I described the doctor as being "tall, thin, beautiful, and blonde." Mixing the order of the words would sound awkward. For more, check out the link below.

https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/adjectives/order-of-adjectives/

Dec 16, 2021 07:52:28 #

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

You are invading my space, Jerry!

Dec 16, 2021 08:07:55 #

Stephan G

jerryc41 wrote:

I went to my dermatologist yesterday, and when the... (show quote)

The general order that I have used since acquiring English when I was about nine has been to work from the general to the specific. Then they started bringing in adverbs! I ran when they bombarded me with idioms!

Languages are a lot of fun when one dives into them.

Dec 16, 2021 08:29:52 #

ELNikkor

Thanks for the lesson! Never knew adjectives were so organized, but it just sounds wrong to use them in the wrong order. Even not knowing the rules, I always followed them based on what sounds right.

Dec 16, 2021 08:31:13 #

cedymock Loc: Irmo, South Carolina

jerryc41 wrote:

I went to my dermatologist yesterday, and when the... (show quote)

Jerry it may be best if you drop the word thin from your adjectives unless you are telling someone at the deli how to slice your order. It can only get you in trouble!

Dec 17, 2021 05:33:04 #

ArnieA Loc: BC,Canada

I no longer care.

Dec 17, 2021 06:47:13 #

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

IMO...Most important to least important. If you get cut off, run out of breath, at least you were able to get the good stuff in.

Dec 17, 2021 09:24:46 #

alexol

I found this somewhere, ages ago:

"Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-purpose & noun.

You can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife, but if you mess with that word order you sound like a little strange. The order also trips up non-native English speakers .

Its an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, yet almost none of us could write it out."

I have no idea why I found it in the first place ...

Dec 17, 2021 10:09:07 #

diclam Loc: Red Lake Falls, MN

Wouldn't your assumptions of your dermatologist have been dashed if, when she had her back to you, she would have removed her mask and faced you with her very pimple-covered face centered by a very large red warty bulbous nose and her mouth filled with very long yellow cavity-filled buck teeth with 1/4" gaps between them? You probably would have exited the room pretty quickly!!

Dec 17, 2021 12:00:44 #

JoeBiker Loc: homebase: Houston, TX

alexol wrote:

Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-purpose & noun.

Rules are made to be broken, said the big bad wolf.

(actually, that is because of another rule that takes priority, but I will leave it as an exercise for the readers to find it).

Dec 17, 2021 14:51:22 #