[ELI5] why do we use words in order like “the cute little red car” and not something like “the little red cute car”?

Question

[ELI5] why do we use words in order like “the cute little red car” and not something like “the little red cute car”?

In: 267

Answer 1

It’s just one of the inexplicable, random rules of language. There isn’t really a “why”, it just sounds odd to English speakers to place things in any other order. Other languages use different Adjectives do have the same order every time, though, as follows:

Quantity, Quality, Size, Age, Shape, Color, “Proper Adjective”, and Purpose.

“Proper Adjective” is a category that can include nationality, place of origin, or material.

This is more strict in English than most of our other grammar rules, and it’s rare to find deviations.

Clifford the **big red** dog. (Size, color).

I want to order **three huge square French** beignets. (Quantity, size, shape, “Proper”)

I need **four good small young curved green Canadian sports** bananas to give my **two awful midsized ancient blocky red metallic seeing-eye** monkeys is a more or less incomprehensible phrase in English, but it serves pretty well to give two examples of each category of adjective and their order, if that helps you make sense of things. But again, there’s little “why” to be had. Languages are generally pretty arbitrary.