What is OSASCOMP in English grammar?

OSASCOMP is a mnemonic for the standard adjective order in English: Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material, Purpose. When you use multiple adjectives before a noun, they should follow this order.

What is the difference between coordinate and cumulative adjectives?

Coordinate adjectives are from the same category, need commas, and can be reversed. Cumulative adjectives are from different OSASCOMP categories, have a fixed order, and do not need commas.

Do adjectives always follow the OSASCOMP rule?

Usually yes, but fixed expressions like "big bad wolf", "brand new", and "ice cold" have set orders that may not follow OSASCOMP strictly. These should be learned as set phrases.

How many adjectives can you put before a noun in English?

While technically unlimited, natural English rarely uses more than three adjectives before a noun. Two-adjective combinations are most common (about 70%), three-adjective phrases are occasional (about 25%), and four or more is extremely rare.

What level is adjective order taught at?

Basic two-adjective order is A2 level. Full OSASCOMP with three+ adjectives is B1. Comma rules for coordinate vs cumulative adjectives are B1-B2. Error correction and advanced mixed practice are B2.

Adjective Order Exercises: OSASCOMP & Comma Rules | A2-B2 English Practice

Adjective Order Exercises

Master the OSASCOMP rule and learn when to use commas between adjectives with 6 exercises and 120 practice questions

Exercises

120

Questions

1-1.5h

Total Time

–/6

Completed

Start with Two-Adjective Combos Jump to Error Correction

All 6 Adjective Order Exercises

Two-Adjective Combos

easy

Order two adjectives using OSASCOMP (A2 intro)

20 questions • 8 min

Start Exercise

Three+ Adjectives (OSASCOMP)

medium

Order three or four adjectives using the full OSASCOMP rule

20 questions • 12 min

Start Exercise

Comma Rules

medium

Learn when to use commas between adjectives

20 questions • 12 min

Start Exercise

Fixed Expressions

medium

Practice set phrases like 'big bad wolf' and 'brand new'

20 questions • 10 min

Start Exercise

Mixed Practice

hard

Combine OSASCOMP ordering with comma rules

20 questions • 15 min

Start Exercise

Error Correction

hard

Find and fix adjective order and comma errors

20 questions • 15 min

Start Exercise

What is adjective order in English?

In English, when you use more than one adjective before a noun, they must follow a specific order. Unlike many other languages where adjective order is flexible, English has a natural sequence that native speakers follow instinctively. If you say "a red big car" instead of "a big red car", native speakers will immediately notice something sounds wrong.

This order is based on how closely each adjective is related to the noun. Adjectives that describe inherent qualities (like material or origin) go closer to the noun, while subjective opinions go further away.

Example:

"a beautiful old Italian leather jacket"

Opinion → Age → Origin → Material

What is the OSASCOMP rule for adjective order?

OSASCOMP is a mnemonic that helps you remember the standard adjective order in English. Each letter represents a category:

Letter	Category	Examples
O	Opinion	beautiful, lovely, ugly, nice
S	Size	big, small, tall, tiny, huge
A	Age	old, young, new, ancient, modern
S	Shape	round, square, flat, triangular
C	Colour	red, blue, green, dark, light
O	Origin	Italian, Chinese, French, German
M	Material	wooden, leather, silk, cotton
P	Purpose	sleeping (bag), cooking (pot)

Full example with 4 adjectives:

"a lovely (O) old (A) Chinese (O) silk (M) tapestry"

OSASCOMP Rule - Adjective Order in English

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When do you use commas between adjectives?

This is where most learners (and many native speakers!) struggle. The rule depends on whether your adjectives are coordinate or cumulative.

Coordinate Adjectives (USE comma)

Same OSASCOMP category. Reversible. "And" test works.

• a long, boring meeting
• a cold, wet day
• a kind, generous person

Cumulative Adjectives (NO comma)

Different OSASCOMP categories. Fixed order. Cannot reverse.

• a beautiful old house
• a small red car
• a large leather bag

Two Quick Tests for Commas

1. The Swap Test: Can you reverse the adjectives? "a boring, long meeting" → Yes! Use a comma.
2. The "And" Test: Can you insert "and" between them? "a long and boring meeting" → Yes! Use a comma.

Comma Rules - Coordinate vs Cumulative Adjectives

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What are the most common adjective combinations?

Research from the Cambridge English Corpus shows that certain adjective combinations appear far more often than others. The most frequent pairings involve:

Opinion + Age

beautiful old, lovely new, nice modern

Size + Colour

big red, small blue, tiny green

Age + Material

old wooden, ancient stone, new leather

Opinion + Origin

delicious Italian, beautiful French, exciting Japanese

Which adjective expressions break the OSASCOMP rule?

While OSASCOMP works for most adjective combinations, English has many fixed expressions where the order is set by convention. These should be learned as complete phrases:

Fairy tale phrases

big bad wolf, little old lady

Intensifier compounds

brand new, ice cold, red hot, dead tired

Nostalgic phrases

good old days, same old story, plain old

Affectionate diminutives

poor little thing, nice little place

Tip: Most fixed expressions actually DO follow OSASCOMP (e.g., "good old days" = opinion + age). The few that don't (like "big bad wolf") are the exceptions learners should memorize.

What are the most common adjective order mistakes?

Research shows that ESL learners make predictable errors with adjective order. Here are the most frequent ones:

Putting origin before opinion

a Japanese expensive car

an expensive Japanese car

Putting material before size

a wooden big table

a big wooden table

Adding commas between cumulative adjectives

a beautiful, old house

a beautiful old house

Missing commas between coordinate adjectives

a long boring meeting

a long, boring meeting

Why is adjective order difficult for ESL learners?

Many languages place adjectives after the noun (French: "une maison blanche", Spanish: "una casa blanca"), while English places them before. Even languages that use pre-noun adjectives (German, Chinese, Japanese) may have different ordering rules.

The coordinate vs cumulative distinction is especially tricky because most languages don't have this rule. In French or Spanish, you can freely add commas between any adjectives. English requires you to identify whether adjectives are from the same category before deciding on punctuation.

Good news: Native English speakers learn adjective order by instinct, not rules. As an ESL learner, once you practise enough, the correct order will start to "sound right" to you too. These exercises are designed to build that instinct.

How should you study adjective order?

Follow this progression for the best results:

1Start with two adjectives (Exercise 1). Learn the basic OSASCOMP categories.
2Move to three+ adjectives (Exercise 2). Apply the full OSASCOMP sequence.
3Learn the comma rules (Exercise 3). Master coordinate vs cumulative adjectives.
4Memorize fixed expressions (Exercise 4). Learn the phrases that every native speaker knows.
5Combine everything (Exercise 5). Practice ordering AND punctuation together.
6Test yourself with errors (Exercise 6). Can you spot and fix mistakes?

Sources

• Cambridge English Grammar Today: Adjective order
• Quirk, R. et al. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman.
• Swan, M. (2016). Practical English Usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Dixon, R. M. W. (1982). "Where have all the adjectives gone?" Studies in Language 1(1).
• Biber, D. et al. (1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman.
• Sproat, R. & Shih, C. (1991). "The cross-linguistic distribution of adjective ordering restrictions." Interdisciplinary Approaches to Language.