THE COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

THE COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

When you compare two people or things, use the comparative form of the adjective.

1: Lots of comparative adjectives end in -er.

Positive Degree	Comparative Degree
cheap	cheaper
clear	clearer
loud	louder
new	newer
old	older
rich	richer
short	shorter
tall	taller
slow	slower
thick	thicker
thin	thinner
young	younger
THE COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

2: The word than is often used with comparative adjectives.

For example:

Jack is taller than John.

A sports car is faster than a motorbike.

3: Use the superlative form of an adjective to compare three or more nouns. Lots of superlatives end in -est.

Positive Degree	Comparative Degree	Superlative Degree
clean	cleaner	the cleanest
easy	easier	the easiest
fat	fatter	the fattest
flat	flatter	the flattest
heavy	heavier	the heaviest
hot	hotter	the hottest
narrow	narrower	the narrowest
noisy	noisier	the noisiest
thin	thinner	the thinnest
small	smaller	the smallest
young	younger	the youngest
THE COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

4: You often add THE before the superlative form.

For example:

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

Peter is the tallest boy in his class.

5: With adjectives that end in -e, add -r to form the comparative, and -st to form the superlative.

For example:

Positive Degree	Superlative Degree	Comparative Degree
close	closer	the closest
large	larger	the largest
safe	safer	the safest
wide	wider	the widest
simple	simpler	the simplest
THE COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

6: Some adjectives have only one syllable, end with a consonant, and have a single vowel before the consonant. With these adjectives, double the last letter before adding –er to form the comparative, and -est to form the superlative.

For example:

Positive Degree	Superlative Degree	Comparative Degree
big	bigger	the biggest
dim	dimmer	the dimmest
mad	madder	the maddest
sad	sadder	the saddest
fat	fatter	fattest
THE COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

7: Some adjectives have two syllables and end in -y. With these adjectives change the y to i. Then add -er to form the comparative, and -est to form the superlative.

For example:

Positive Degree	Superlative Degree	Comparative Degree
busy	busier	the busiest
dirty	dirtier	the dirtiest
happy	happier	the happiest
pretty	prettier	the prettiest
noisy	noisier	the noisiest
THE COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

8: With some adjectives, you use more to make the comparative form, and most to make the superlative form.

Positive Degree	Superlative Degree	Comparative Degree
active	more active	the most active
charming	more charming	the most charming
cheerful	more cheerful	the most cheerful
expensive	more expensive	the most expensive
delicious	more delicious	the most delicious
comfortable	more comfortable	the most comfortable
THE COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

9: Adjectives that form their comparative and superlative with more and most are usually adjectives with two or more syllables, or sounds.

For example:

ac-tive

ex-pen-sive

beau-ti-ful

fa-mous

charm-ing

for-tu-nate

cheer-ful

in-tel-li-gent

com-fort-a-ble

pow-er-ful

de-li-cious

val-u-a-ble

10: The comparative and superlative forms of some adjectives are completely different words.

Positive Degree	Superlative Degree	Comparative Degree
good	better	the best
little	less	the least
few	less	least
bad	worse	the worst
much	more	the most
many	more	the most
THE COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES