When several adjectives come before a noun, they usually have to be put in a particular order. For instance, we say a fat old lady, not *an old fat lady; a small shiny black leather handbag is good English, but *a leather black shiny small handbag is not. Unfortunately, the rules for adjective order are very complicated, and different grammars disagree about the details. Here are some of the most important rules:
Just before the noun come adjectives that tell you what something is for - its purpose:
an expensive tennis racket (a racket for tennis)
a large conference hall (a hall for conference)
Just before these, we put adjectives that say what something is made of.
an expensive steel and nylon tennis racket
a large brick conference hall
a plastic garden chair
Before these are words that tell you the origin of something - where it comes from:
A venetian glass ashtray
Spanish leather boots
A Chinese writing desk
Before these come color adjectives:
A green Venetian glass ashtray
Black Spanish leather boots
A brown and white German beer-mug
Words for age, shape, size, temperature and other adjectives, come before all these: the exact order is too complicated to give practical rules.
An old wooden boat
A big round conference table
A large antique brown and white German beer-mug
