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Separating lists of adjectives

When you’ve got more than one adjective describing the same noun, you sometimes need to separate them with commas. The general rule is that if you can put the word ‘and’ between the adjectives and it still sounds alright, then you need to put commas between them. Take this sentence for example:

The fat heavy package is the one that you want.

There are two adjectives here: ‘fat’ and ‘heavy’. They describe the noun ‘package’. Let’s see if the sentence still sounds alright when we put an ‘and’ in between the adjectives.

The fat and heavy package is the one that you want.

Still sounds alright! So this means we probably should put a comma between the adjectives:

The fat, heavy package is the one that you want.

This isn’t always the case. Take this sentence for example:

The small red package is the one that you want.

Trying with ‘and’ in between the adjectives:

The small and red package is the one you want.

Doesn’t really sound very natural. So this means we don’t need to put a comma between the adjectives. We can leave it the way that it was:

The small red package is the one you want.