Why does the order of adjectives matter?

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Even though saying “the big brown brick wall” means the same as saying “the brick brown big wall”, the second feels so very wrong.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

In English adjectives follow the order of:

Opinion

Size

Age

Shape

Color

Place of origin

Material

Purpose

“The big(size) brown(color) brick(material) wall”

To expand this and use all of them you have:

“The ugly big old crooked brown french brick dividing wall”

Changing the order of theses adjectives makes it feel “wrong” because after years of hearing adjectives in this order you have internalized it, even if you are not consciously aware of the order.

~~This rule of grammar is called Ablaut Reduplication.~~

EDIT: I goofed it is not called this. It may not have a name.

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