Adjective Order

A veces utilizamos dos adjetivos juntos:

- My parents live in a beautiful new house

- A dirty old black cat is wandering the streets

A / 'OPINION' ADJECTIVES 

    Adjetivos como “beautiful” y “dirty” son adjetivos de opinión y van antes de adjetivos de hecho.

B /   Adjetivos de Hecho

      Adjetivos como “new, old, black” son adjetivos de hecho y nos cuentan información sobre edad, color, tamaño, forma, material, o propósito.

      A veces usamos dos adjetivos de hecho o más y van en este orden:

1  /   SIZE  :       How big is it?         Large, small, tiny, enormous

2 /     AGE   :      How old is it?           New, young, old, ancient

3 /    SHAPE :    What is its shape?     Square, round, rectangular, flat

4 / COLOR :    What color is it?      Blue, pink, yellow, crimson

5 /  ORIGIN :    Where is it from?      English, American, Chinese, French

6 / MATERIAL: What is it made of?    Plastic, cardboard, glass, wooden

7 / PURPOSE : What it is used for?    Racing car, frying pan, rocking chair 

1 / Tamaño: Cómo es de grande? Grande, pequeño, minúsculo, enorme
2 / EDAD: ¿Cuántos años tiene? Nuevo, joven, viejo, antiguo
3 / FORMA: ¿Cuál es su forma? Cuadrada, redonda, rectangular, plano
4 / COLOR: ¿De qué color es? Azul, rosa, amarillo, carmesí
5 / ORIGEN: ¿De dónde es? Inglés, americano, chino, francés
6 / MATERIAL: Lo que está hecha? Plástico, cartón, vidrio, madera
7 / PROPÓSITO: ¿Para qué se utiliza? Carreras de coches, sartén, mecedora

Ejemplos : 

-  An interesting (opinión ) old (2)  book

-  An ugly (opinion) pink (4 ) plastic (6) ornament 

-  A nice (opinion) small (1) African (5) drum

-  A delicious (opinion) round (3) chocolate (6) cake

-  A pair of smart( opinion) brown  (4) leather (6) boots

-  A beautiful (opinion) small (1) white (4) Chinese (5 ) computer

-  A nice (opinion) big (1) old (2) square (3) white (4) French (5) china (6) plate *

 *  This last example comes from the BBC site, but we do not usually put more than three adjectives together!

   When there are two color adjectives, we use and :

-  A big green and yellow hat

Questions:

1) At home there is a __________________ table in the dining room.
[ ]wooden beautiful square
[ ]beautiful wooden square
[ ]beautiful square wooden

2) I was offered __________________ ring by my husband.
[ ]a gold  unusual
[ ]an unusual gold

3) My grandmother has knitted __________________ pullover for me.
[ ]a new nice woollen
[ ]a nice new woollen
[ ]a woollen new nice

4) I saw __________________ movie with friends at home.
[ ]An old American interesting
[ ]An American old interesting
[ ]an interesting old American

5) It may rain ! There are __________________ clouds floating in the air.
[ ]black big
[ ]big black

6) It was such __________________ day that we decided to go out for a walk.
[ ]a sunny lovely
[ ]a lovely sunny

7) My daughter has __________________ hair.
[ ]beautiful long black
[ ]black long beautiful
[ ]long beautiful black

8) Last week, I visited __________________ village in a remote place.
[ ]an old lovely little
[ ]a lovely little old
[ ]a little lovely old

9) The gallery exhibited mainly __________________ paintings.
[ ]old strange French
[ ]French old strange
[ ]strange old French

10) John was given __________________ kitten by his sister
[ ]a little black adorable
[ ]a black little adorable
[ ]an adorable little black

11) It started to rain so I opened __________________ umbrella
[ ]an enormous red and yellow
[ ]an enormous red yellow
[ ]a red and yellow enormous

12) I came into a __________________ house built in 1860
[ ]old picturesque
[ ]picturesque old

13) A __________________ was parked opposite my house.
[ ]  new Italian shiny sports car
[ ]  shiny Italian new sports car
[ ]shiny new Italian sports car

ANSWERS:

1. beautiful square wooden
2. an unusual gold
3. a nice new woollen
4. an interesting old American
5. big black
6. a lovely sunny
7. beautiful long black
8. a lovely little old
9. strange old French
10. an adorable little black
11. an enormous red and yellow
12. picturesque old
13. shiny new Italian sports car

More Exercises:

1. He was wearing a ________ shirt.

  dirty old flannel

  flannel old dirty

  old dirty flannel

(vieja franela sucia)

2. Pass me the ________ cups.

  plastic big blue

  big blue plastic

  big plastic blue

(azul grande de plástico)

3. All the girls fell in love with the ________ teacher.

  handsome new American

  American new handsome

  new handsome American

4. I used to drive ________ car.

  a blue old German

  an old German blue

  an old blue German

5. He recently married a ________ woman.

  young beautiful Greek

  beautiful young Greek

  beautiful Greek young

6. This is a ________ movie.

  new Italian wonderful

  wonderful Italian new

  wonderful new Italian

(nuevo y maravilloso italiano)

7. She is a ________ supermodel.

  beautiful slim Brazilian

  Brazilian beautiful slim

  slim Brazilian beautiful

(hermosa delgada brasileña)

8. It's in the ________ container.

  large blue metal

  blue large metal

  blue metal large

9. He sat behind a ________ desk.

  big wooden brown

  big brown wooden

  wooden big brown

10. She gave him a ________ vase.

  small Egyptian black

  black Egyptian small

  small black Egyptian

Answers:

He was wearing a dirty old flannel shirt.

Pass me the big blue plastic cups.

All the girls fell in love with the handsome new American teacher.

I used to drive an old blue German car.

He recently married a beautiful young Greek woman.

This is a wonderful new Italian movie.

She is a beautiful slim Brazilian supermodel.

It's in the large blue metal container.

He sat behind a big brown wooden desk.

She gave him a small black Egyptian vase.

The Past Perfect

El uso del past perfect en inglés es casi igual que en castellano. 

Para formar el pluscuamperfecto: Subject        +       Past Tense of To Have = Had    +            Past Participle Often the contracted form of  Had is used: I’d -You’d - He’s - She’s - We’d - They’d – It’d Here are some examples: I had been to China before I went to Japan. I had done my homework already. USES Actions in the past that happen before another action.  The 1st action is in past perfect and the second action is in simple past. Take a look at this situation and how past perfect is used: 7:00        I ate dinner. 9:00        She invited me to a restaurant. She invited me to a restaurant but I had eaten dinner. Here are some examples of the past perfect: I had never been to his house before I went to his party. I arrived at the station at 9:00 am, but the train had left. I had not met his girlfriend before. He had not studied English before he came to Canada. Past Perfect and Present Perfect Past perfect is present perfect in the past.  Look at the example to understand how past perfect works the same as present perfect. (Monday) Tom:  Would you like to go out for dinner? Jane:  No.  I have already eaten dinner. (Present Perfect) (Tuesday) Kim:   Did you go out for dinner with Jane? Tom:  No.  I invited her to dinner, but she had already eaten. This means the words that are common with present perfect can also be used in the past.  These include ALREADY, YET, STILL, SINCE, and FOR. My teacher asked me for my project, but I had not finished it yet. He introduced me to his father, and I realized had already met him. I ate a lot of food last night for dinner, because I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. I had not seen my sister for 3 months Exercises from Perfect English Grammar 1. When I arrived at the cinema, the film ____________________ (start). 2. She ____________________ (live) in China before she went to Thailand. 3. After they ____________________ (eat) the shellfish, they began to feel sick. 4. If you ____________________ (listen) to me, you would have got the job. 5. Julie didn’t arrive until after I ____________________ (leave). 6. When we ____________________ (finish) dinner, we went out. 7. The garden was dead because it ____________________ (be) dry all summer. 8. He ____________________ (meet) her before somewhere. 9. We were late for the plane because we ____________________ (forgot)our passports.                             10. She told me that she ____________________ (study) a lot before the exam. 11. The grass was yellow because it ___________________ (not / rain) all summer. 12. The lights went off because we ___________________ (not / pay) the electricity bill. 13. The children ___________________ (not / do) their homework, so they were in trouble. 14. They ___________________ (not / eat) so we went to a restaurant. 15. We couldn’t go into the concert because we ___________________ (not / bring) our tickets. 16. She said that she ___________________ (not / visit) the UK before. 17. Julie and Anne ___________________ (not / meet) before the party. 18. I ___________________ (not / have) breakfast when he arrived. 19. He ___________________ (not / use) email before, so I showed him how to use it. 20. You ___________________ (not / study) for the test, so you were very nervous. Answers: 1. When I arrived at the cinema, the film had started. 2. She had lived in China before she went to Thailand. 3. After they had eaten the shellfish, they began to feel sick. 4. If you had listened to me, you would have got the job. 5. Julie didn’t arrive until after I had left. 6. When we had finished dinner, we went out. 7. The garden was dead because it had been dry all summer. 8. He had met her before somewhere. 9. We were late for the plane because we had forgotten our passports. 10. She told me that she had studied a lot before the exam. 11. The grass was yellow because it hadn’t rained all summer. 12. The lights went off because we hadn’t paid the electricity bill. 13. The children hadn’t done their homework, so they were in trouble. 14. They hadn’t eaten so we went to a restaurant. 15. We couldn’t go into the concert because we hadn’t brought our tickets. 16. She said that she hadn’t visited the UK before. 17. Julie and Anne hadn’t met before the party. 18. I hadn’t had breakfast when he arrived. 19. He hadn’t used email before, so I showed him how to use it. 20. You hadn’t studied for the test, so you were very nervous.