2019.11.02
Why is [blue small ball] wrong?!
今日はシャイアン先生が形容詞の語順について、詳しく教えてくれました!
It would be hard for any native English speaker to explain what order adjectives are supposed to go in because we just do it naturally after hearing it the same way for all of our lives. If you have been studying English for a while you also probably know that [blue small ball] should be [small blue ball] but if you wanted to add [plastic] to the description would you know where to put it?
Recently, on Facebook I found an image that explained the exact order of adjectives as;
opinion-size-age-shape-color-origin-material-purpose noun.
Therefore, [I have a great big new round blue Japanese plastic bouncing ball.] is correct and sounds fine! However, if switch two to make [I have a great big new round Japanese blue plastic bouncing ball.] it is incorrect and sounds really strange!
Many native English speakers from around the world reacted to this explaination on Facebook and agreed that while they were frustrated by the fact they had no idea why its this order, it sounds strange any other way.
なるほど、英語に聞きなれてしまっていると、なかなか説明しづらいものなんですね。
ポイントは主観で感じたことをまず述べ、見た目や質感の最後に名詞をもってくるというところですね。
自然な英語を使いこなせるよう、不思議に思ったことはどんどん質問してください!どんな小さなことでも、しっかりお答えしていきます◎