Complete these exercises to test your competence at using phrasal verbs.
Match the definitions in ex. a and then complete the sentences in ex. b.
Sometimes we use more than one adjective in front of a noun:
He was a nice intelligent young man.
She had a small round black wooden box.
She had a small round black wooden box.
Opinion adjectives:
Some adjectives give a general opinion. We can use these adjectives to describe almost any noun:
| good | bad | lovely | strange |
| beautiful | nice | brilliant | excellent |
| awful | important | wonderful | nasty |
Some adjectives give a specific opinion. We only use these adjectives to describe particular kinds of noun:
Food: tasty; delicious
Furniture, buildings: comfortable; uncomfortable
People, animals: clever; intelligent; friendly
Furniture, buildings: comfortable; uncomfortable
People, animals: clever; intelligent; friendly
We usually put a general opinion in front of a specific opinion:
Nice tasty soup.
A nasty uncomfortable armchair
A lovely intelligent animal
A nasty uncomfortable armchair
A lovely intelligent animal
Usually we put an adjective that gives an opinion in front of an adjective that is descriptive:
a nice red dress; a silly old man; those horrible yellow curtains
We often have two adjectives in front of a noun:
a handsome young man; a big black car; that horrible big dog
Sometimes we have three adjectives, but this is unusual:
a nice handsome young man;
a big black American car;
that horrible big fierce dog
a big black American car;
that horrible big fierce dog
It is very unusual to have more than three adjectives.
Adjectives usually come in this order:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General opinion | Specific opinion | Size | Shape | Age | Colour | Nationality | Material |
We use some adjectives only after a link verb:
| afraid | alive | alone | asleep |
| content | glad | ill | ready |
| sorry | sure | unable | well |
Some of the commonest -ed adjectives are normally used only after a link verb:
annoyed; finished; bored; pleased; thrilled
We say:
Our teacher was ill.
My uncle was very glad when he heard the news.
The policeman seemed to be very annoyed
My uncle was very glad when he heard the news.
The policeman seemed to be very annoyed
but we do not say:
We had an ill teacher.
When he heard the news he wasa very glad uncle
He seemed to be avery annoyed policeman
When he heard the news he was
He seemed to be a
A few adjectives are used only in front of a noun:
north
south east west |
northern
southern eastern western |
countless
occasional lone |
eventful
indoor outdoor |
We say:
He lives in the eastern district.
There were countless problems with the new machinery.
There were countless problems with the new machinery.
but we do not say:
Try these tasks to improve your adjective ordering.