Adjectives follow an order English speakers use without ever being taught it. Comparison has traps beyond "-er" and "more" — and some adjectives never take "than" at all.
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When more than one adjective describes a noun, native speakers put them in a fixed order — even though nobody memorised a rule for it.
📌 The adjective order (OSASCOMP)
Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Purpose, then the noun.
"A beautiful small old round Indian wooden jewellery box" follows this exact order.
Swapping the order (a "wooden old box") sounds foreign to a native ear, even though nothing is technically ungrammatical.
✨ Worked example
Correct order
opinion, size, then noun
a lovely small puppy
Wrong order
sounds unnatural
a small lovely puppy
Most adjectives just add -er/-est or "more/most". A handful of Latin-origin comparatives break every rule you know.
📊 Latin comparatives that never take "than"
| Adjective | Takes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| senior / junior | to | He is senior to me by two years. |
| superior / inferior | to | This fabric is superior to that one. |
| prior | to | Prior to the exam, revise your notes. |
| preferable | to | Tea is preferable to coffee for her. |
Olympiad trap: "He is superior than me" looks natural but is wrong — words ending in -ior always take "to", never "than".
Adverbial clauses answer when, where, why or how the main action happened — and Achievers questions often ask you to name which one.
🏆 Naming an adverbial clause
Time: "She left before the bell rang." — answers WHEN.
Reason: "He stayed home because he was ill." — answers WHY.
Condition: "You will pass if you revise daily." — answers UNDER WHAT CONDITION.
Pro tip: Double comparatives like "more better" or "most fastest" never exist in standard English — pick either "-er/-est" OR "more/most", never both together.
12 IEO-pattern questions on adjective order, comparison and adverbial clauses, including two Achievers-level questions.
