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Monday, 03 March 2014 15:01 |
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We don’t often think about the way we put sentences together – they just come naturally - so it was interesting to read in The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth an analysis of the order in which adjectives are used. In English, he observes, adjectives go in this order:
‘Opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose-noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac’.
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