He has curly, brown hair. / He has brown, curly hair. (2025)

1. He has curly, brown hair.
2. He has brown, curly hair.

Hi,
Are both acceptable?

Thank you.

The internet has the famous "The Royal Order of Adjectives" - it's worth taking a copy, even though all the types are not there, the table shows the default order.

But Paul, most of the people say that there is not a good and general rule for the adjectives' orders. I mean there are some occasions that some adjectives' orders in a long sentence do not follow the rule you have mentioned.

According to your explanation in the picture, my sentence #1 is correct and #2 is wrong. But in the book I teach to kids both are used that's why I am confused. I have taken a picture of the book I teach. Look at the pictures please:

Source of the exercise (kids' book): Family and Friends 1 by Naomi Simmons

Source of the exercise (kids' book): Teacher's Edition of the Family and Friends 1 by Naomi Simmons

You see now? I am confused.

sb70012 said:

But Paul, most of the people say that there is not a good and general rule for the adjectives' orders.

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Who are these people - what are their names and addresses! ....

I mean there are some occasions that some adjectives' orders in a long sentence do not follow the rule you have mentioned.

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If you knew that, why did you ask? And, as my signature says, "There are no rules"

According to your explanation in the picture, my sentence #1 is correct and #2 is wrong.

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No. #1 is the default, #2 is an alternative.

As I said:

PaulQ said:

the table shows the default order

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But in the book I teach to kids both

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As Juhasz says - the table is a good starting point - perhaps you can give copies to your students?

I can live with either one of your sentences, although I do think the first one is more usual.

But, let's take another example from the page.

-- She has got straight, black hair.

I would never, ever say:

-- She has got black, straight hair.

kentix said:

I can live with either one of your sentences, although I do think the first one is more usual.

But, let's take another example from the page.

-- She has got straight, black hair.

I would never, ever say:

-- She has got black, straight hair.

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1. He has curly, brown hair.
2. He has brown, curly hair.
3. She has got straight, black hair.
4. She has got black, straight hair.

Thank you for answering but why is #2 right when #4 is wrong? They both use the same construction. Don't they?

Thank you.

kentix said:

I would never, ever say:

-- She has got black, straight hair.

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I think you might:

A: "See that girl with the straight hair?"
B: "Which one, they've both got straight hair"
A: "The one with the black straight hair." (I suspect "straight hair" becomes a noun phrase.)

If the adjectives are not in the default order, the "odd one" is often the one that is emphasised.

PaulQ said:

I think you might:

A: "See that girl with the straight hair?"
B: "Which one, they've both got straight hair"
A: "The one with the black, straight hair."

If the adjectives are not in the default order, the "odd one" is often the one that is emphasised.

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Wonderful guidance. Thank you, Paul. Then my four sentences in post #8 can work.

I think so. As you see, they are not always interchangeable.

Use this new power wisely.

PaulQ said:

I think you might:

A: "See that girl with the straight hair?"
B: "Which one, they've both got straight hair"
A: "The one with the black straight hair." (I suspect "straight hair" becomes a noun phrase.)

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Ha! Do you take me for a weakling?

A: "See that girl with the straight hair?"
B: "Which one, they've both got straight hair"
A: "I'm talking about the one with black hair."

sb70012 said:

1. He has curly, brown hair.
2. He has brown, curly hair.
3. She has got straight, black hair.
4. She has got black, straight hair.

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I agree with the marks regarding correctness. However, I would not use commas in 1 and 3, and I wouldn't use "has got."

These are previous threads on this topic:

[I found them by searching for curly hair, the two most important words. I knew that there could be different colors, and I wanted to see them all.]