Advanced Writing with English in Use

Describingpicturesandobjects • Mo du le 1B

1 B Describing pictures and objects

1.0 The orderofadjectives

\Vhen a numhe r of adjecti ves(and otherqualifie rs) go befo re a noun, theyar e

generallywritt eninthe follO\ving ord e r.

3 Size

10 N o un

6 C o lo ur

9 Co m p o un d

4 Age

5 Shape

1 N u mber!

determiner

2 Opinion

7 Origin

8 Material

a/oneIa dozcn l 365 /her1m!! teacher's/tooHUm !!I

C leo pat ra's/G en ghi sKhan 's I in numerab le

favou riteIadorable/st ylishIpriceless/channing/roma lltic/

uscju!/comfortable/soph isticated

d ecaden t/scandalo us/d angerous/old~f(JshjolledI

ch eapI llasf y/ugly/useless/di sgu sti ng/hor ill g

short/little/m icroscopic/giga1lticI (hvmf

(mill/lieI brand- new/te n- nea r-old/second-ha nd

o val /square Iround) spiral;streamlined/haggy /

poi nted/tapered I h carl -s hap ed I pear-shaped

j et b lack:I t artanICallan) yello wIshockingpi nk

C h erok ee/Chillese/A lpi lle/Hellaissm lce/Homa n/A1JOrigillai

gold/leath er/copper/d ia mond/icootlen/marble/glass

ear/key/wedding/electric/S1l11lmer/dinner/d isco

snw k illg/d in ing/reli gious/moto r/toy/bird/tree/ja=.,;:;

ring/tntuipe t/jacket/shoes/shlrttskirt/table/painti llg/car/

b oat/bath/house/teddy h ea r/reco rd/hal / room

A The'compound' describesthe noun's use, typeor purpose.Thisword is

often itself a noun; it joins withthenounto forma compoundnoun(earring, key-

ring , wedding ring).The compound nounmay behyphenated or writtenas one

or twowords:checkin adict ionary.

How many othercompoundnounscan youmak e from thecompoundandnoun

lists (g and 10) above?

B It ispossibleto usemore than threeor four adjectivesto describesomething,

butit sounds a bit unnatural ifyouhave asmany asnine adjectivesin front of a

noun.

lH y teacher's channing lit tle anti que taperedblack:C hi neseicoodeneartrumpet.

Choose five ofthe nouns above, and describethemusi ng fiveadjectives (or

other qualifiers) for each. You may use the adject ives in thelists, or any others.

Exa mples

a st ylis hsho rtItalian leath er skirt

a cheap seco nd -h an dshocki ng pinkdi scoshirt

so meuglyantique di a mOlullced d i ng rings

CThet hree st r angeitems illust rated to the left wereinvented fromwordsin the

table. Describethem. Be creative!

DWritingpractice

You have justarrivedby planein anEnglish-speaking country andthe airline

seemstohavelost your luggage. Writea briefbut detailed descriptionof the

luggage(eitheroneor twoitems).Do not mention or describe thecontents. Write

about100 words.

Task bank: Task 1

Types of writing • 4 1