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Question

Difficulty: MediumAdjectives, Adverbs, and Modifiers

Consider the sentence frame below:

'The museum curator presented a _______ mahogany desk to the governing council.'

Which of the following options provides the correct order of adjectives to complete the sentence grammatically?

  1. beautiful antique rectangular NigerianAnswer
  2. B
    rectangular antique beautiful Nigerian
  3. C
    Nigerian beautiful antique rectangular
  4. D
    antique beautiful Nigerian rectangular

Answer

The option containing 'beautiful antique rectangular Nigerian' is the correct answer because it conforms to the standard rule for ordering cumulative adjectives in English grammar.
The correct option arranges the modifiers according to the standard order of cumulative adjectives in English (Opinion -> Age -> Shape -> Origin). Evaluative adjectives such as 'beautiful' (opinion) precede physical descriptors like 'antique' (age) and 'rectangular' (shape), followed by proper adjectives indicating origin ('Nigerian').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the adjectives being used and classify their categories
'beautiful' is an opinion adjective, 'antique' is an age adjective, 'rectangular' is a shape adjective, and 'Nigerian' is an origin adjective.
English grammar requires cumulative pre-nominal adjectives to follow a specific sequence.
2
Apply the standard English adjective order rule (OSASCOMP: Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Color, Origin, Material, Purpose)
The correct sequence must be Opinion ('beautiful') -> Age ('antique') -> Shape ('rectangular') -> Origin ('Nigerian').
Opinion modifiers must always precede factual descriptors like age, shape, and origin.

Key Concept

Order of Cumulative Adjectives
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Topics

Adjectives, Adverbs, and Modifiers

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