Noun Phrase

Read the following sentence.

I took out a small black tin box.

● The phrase in italics is a noun phrase.

● It has the noun – box – as the headword, and three adjectives preceding it.

● Notice the order in which the adjectives occur - size (small), colour (black) and material (tin) of which it is made.

● We rarely use more than four adjectives before a noun and there is no rigid order in which they are used, though there is a preferred order of modifies/adjectives in a noun phrase, as given below.

Determiner	Modifier 1 (opinion, feeling)	Modifier 2 (size, shape, age)	Modifier 3 (colour)	Modifier 4 (material)	Headword
a/an/the	nice/lazy/beautiful	tall/round/old/young	red/white/light/dark	Silk/cotton/wollen	Woman man/ table/chair