Coordinated adjectives work together to describe a noun and share equal effect. Commas separate them in a sentence. Two tests determine if adjectives are coordinated: replacing commas with “and” and changing their order.
A coordinated adjective can be a bit of a difficult grammatical concept to understand. A set of adjectives might be considered coordinated when they work together to characterize another word or words, most often a noun. Each coordinated adjective will share an equal effect on the noun it is modifying. When written in a sentence, commas should generally be used as a separation between each of the adjectives.
Adjectives are words used to describe other words. For the most part, adjectives can help describe what kind something is, how many there are, or what something is. Sometimes it takes more than one adjective to adequately identify a noun. This is where coordinated adjectives come into play. An adjective is considered a coordinated adjective when placed in succession with other adjectives and used to describe the same noun.
Usually, a coordinate adjective is identified by the comma or commas that separate the set of adjectives before a noun in a written sentence. For example, in the sentence “Max is a happy and healthy puppy,” the words “happy” and “healthy” are matching adjectives. They help describe the noun “puppy.”
However, a set of adjectives is not always coordinated. There are two tests used to determine if adjectives are coordinated. First, the comma is removed between adjectives and replaced by the word “and” and if the sentence still makes sense, the adjectives are considered coordinated. For example, the sentence “Max is a happy, healthy puppy” is grammatically correct and sounds logical when spoken. Therefore, the adjectives “happy” and “healthy” are coordinated adjectives in this sentence.
If the sentence no longer makes sense after replacing the comma with “and”, adjectives are not considered coordinated adjectives. An example of uncoordinated adjectives is found in the sentence “We have two pudgy bulldogs.” The words “two” and “pudgy” are the adjectives. Trying the first test, the sentence becomes “We have two plump bulldogs”. When the word “and” is placed between adjectives, the sentence is no longer grammatically or verbally correct.
The second method used to check if the adjectives are coordinated is to change the order of the adjectives in the sentence. If the sentence is still correct and makes sense, then they are matching adjectives. In the sentence “Max is a happy, healthy puppy,” changing from “happy” to “healthy” does not affect the sound or correctness of the sentence.
When a sentence passes both of these tests, the adjectives in the sentence are considered matching adjectives. Using the uncoordinated example, to prove the second test, the sentence becomes “We have two pudgy bulldogs.” Reversing the order of the adjectives in this sentence makes it completely illogical.
Checking the usage of the comma and testing the sentence using these two methods can help determine if the adjectives are coordinate adjectives. When writing, it is important to remember not to insert a comma between the final adjective and the noun. Putting a comma would turn the sentence into more of a listing than a description.
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