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		Ask for help > describing clothes     
			
		 describing clothes 
		
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 Emmawoodhouse
 
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							| describing clothes 
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							| Hi everyone,   I �m currently teaching clothes description to my 14 years old and find it tricky to order adjectives in the correct order when there are many of them. For example, what do you make of: a long / polka-dotted / sleeveless /black and white / silk / dress? I would tend to put the adjectives in the following order: a long, sleeveless, polka-dotted, black and white silk dress. So size / shape / patterns / colour / material? And what about this one: beautiful / high-heeled / leather / brown / lace-up boots I �d go for beautiful high-heeled brown lace-up leather boots   What do you think?    Last question: do you use commas to separate the adjectives?   Thanks a lot for your help! Nathalie |  13 Jan 2013      
					
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 Matthew@ELSP
 
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							| For the first one, I would move the colur description to 2nd place, after "long". 
 Same for the 2nd one, I would move the colour to 2nd place, after "beautiful".
 
 I think there is a "standard, accepted order" for listing adjectives like this, but I would also say that to a certain degree if a native speaker feels it sounds natural enough, then it �s OK.
 
 |  13 Jan 2013     
					
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 alex1968
 
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							| Hi Nathalie! I teach my kids the following: NO SAS COMKU
  N = number (or article) O = opinion (beautiful) 
 S= size (big/small/long) A= age (old) S= shape (round) 
 C = colour (black & white/brown) O= origin (Japanese) M= material (silk/leather) K= kind (sleeveless/polka-dotted/ lace-up/ high-heeled) U= use (coffee table/ sports watch)
 a long, black & white, silk, sleeveless, polka-dotted dress 
 beautiful, brown, leather, lace-up, high-heeled boots 
 I lace-up & high-heeled are interchangeable, as well as sleevelss 7 polka-dotted 
 Hugs from sunny but cold Thessaloniki, Alex 
 
 |  13 Jan 2013     
					
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 papadeli
 
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							| Mnemonics 1      *Bruce  says: ...in the US at least, we no longer say "woolen". Almost everyone would say "a wool hat".          Greetings from Greece, |  13 Jan 2013     
					
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 Emmawoodhouse
 
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							| Thank you ever so much! Have a nice Sunday!   Hugs from the French Alps  Nathalie |  13 Jan 2013     
					
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 [email protected]
 
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							| MORE MNEMONICS: I teach my students:   OPISIAGE COLORMATY OPI-opinion SI- size AGE- age COLOR- colour MAT- material TY- Type I bought a nice long white silk wedding dress   Hope you also find it useful! |  13 Jan 2013     
					
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 aloga
 
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							| I usually teach them this one: osas.com o: opinion s: size a: age s: shape c: colour o: origin m: material |  13 Jan 2013     
					
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 Pauline Burke MSc
 
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							| Not much to add to all these useful comments except that, as a native speaker, I would never say  �polka-dotted �.  I had a polka-dot dress when I was young, that �s what my mum called it. 
 |  13 Jan 2013     
					
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