Dumb Grammar Rules
 Remember nouns?
 Person, place, thing, or idea
 Remember adjectives?
 Modify nouns
 Which one?
 What kind?
 How many?
Nouns and adjectives
“Teacher” is a noun.
I can add adjectives to describe my teacher:
“My evil teacher gave me four hours of homework.”
“My angry teacher gave me four hours of homework.”
“My obnoxious teacher gave me four hours of
homework.”
Nouns and adjectives
But what if my teacher is both angry AND obnoxious?
I can write:
My angry, obnoxious teacher gave me four hours of
homework!
-When two adjectives modify the same noun in the same
way, they’re called coordinate adjectives.
-Coordinate adjectives are always separated by a
comma.
Coordinate Adjectives
Teachers lead short, sad lives.
The mean, ugly teachers are the worst.
Students who turn in rushed, sloppy work are the bane
of my existence.
Both adjectives modify their nouns in the same way, so
they are coordinate adjectives and need a comma!
Coordinate Adjectives
 But not all adjectives are coordinate adjectives!
 There are two ways to CHECK to see if adjectives are
coordinate adjectives:
1.
Reverse the order of the adjectives. If the phrase still
makes sense, THEY ARE COORDINATE ADJECTIVES!
2.
Remove the comma and put the word AND instead. If
the phrase makes sense: COORDINATE ADJECTIVES!
 If they pass these tests, then you need a comma!
Watch…
Teachers lead short, sad lives.
Can I reverse the adjective order?
Teachers lead sad, short lives.
Can I replace the comma with ‘and’?
Teachers lead short and sad lives.
These ARE coordinate adjectives!
Watch…
I bought a pretty wool sweater.
Can I reverse the adjective order?
I bought a wool pretty sweater.
Can I replace the comma with ‘and’?
I bought a pretty and wool sweater.
These ARE NOT coordinate adjectives! NO COMMA!
BUT WHY?
 Certain adjectives MUST go in a certain order, so they
are NOT coordinating adjectives, and they do NOT
need a comma.
Mr. Abel is a terrific math teacher.
‘terrific’ and ‘math’ are both adjectives that describe
WHAT KIND of teacher he is.
We CANNOT change the order, or we’d get
Mr. Abel is a math terrific teacher.
Hierarchy…
It actually makes sense if you think about it…
We say,
Look at that shiny new red car.
We never say,
Look at that red new shiny car.
It sounds weird. There’s actually an order that adjectives go in
when you use them in front of nouns.
Adjective hierarchy:
1. Determiner (articles, possessive pronouns, demonstrative adjectives: the teacher, your class, this book)
2. Observation or opinion (obnoxious, angry, malodorous)
3. Size and Shape (microscopic, fat, gargantuan)
4. Age (young, old, new)
5. Color (blue, green…you know what colors are, right?)
6. Origin (American, Chinese, Djiboutian)
7. Material (what something is made of: silk, copper, wooden)
8. Qualifier (final adjective, often an integral part of the noun: vacation resort, wedding dress, math teacher)