order of adjectives

Question

dear forum, how do we arrange these wordsscool,st. Johns,girls,boarding,primary.which criteria do you use?thanks

Philip · Accepted Answer

A general guide: Determiner (a, the, some); Opinion/Judgement (good, smart); Size (big); Age (old); Shape (round); Color (blue); Nationality (French); Material (woolen, metal); Purpose/Qualifier (necessary, essential).
This is only a guide; if your example sounds terribly wrong, it may be an exception.

Fivejedjon · Answer

I'd go for the name (St John's) first, and the institution (school) last. To the institution, I'd add the type - girls' school, primary school, boarding school. If we have two of these types together, we usually consider the gender of the pupils as less fundamental than the educational nature of the school: girls' boarding school, girls primary school.

So, St John's Girls' Primary School and Sr John's Girls' Boarding School are fine.

If we want to include both 'primary' and 'boarding', I am not sure what I'd end up with, I am afraid. I think I'd go for St John's Girl's Primary Boarding School, though I'd prefer St John's Primary Boarding School for Girls.

Note than boarding schools for girls in that age range are uncommon in the UK.

order of adjectives

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