English Grammar
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
Forms of adjectives for comparison
What is an adjective?
An adjective is a word that describes, identifies, qualifies or gives more information about a noun or a pronoun.
Example: The young man drove his new car down the busy road.
Comparative adjectives are used to compare two things or people to each other.
They highlight differences between two nouns by stating that one of them has more or less of a quality than the other.
They indicate that no one person or thing has more or less of a particular quality.
An adjective is a word that describes, identifies, qualifies or gives more information about a noun or a pronoun.
Example: The young man drove his new car down the busy road.
Comparative adjectives are used to compare two things or people to each other.
They highlight differences between two nouns by stating that one of them has more or less of a quality than the other.
- A bus is bigger than a car.
- Bill is older than Harry.
They indicate that no one person or thing has more or less of a particular quality.
- The Nile is the longest river in the world.
- In our class, Maria is the oldest and Charlie is the youngest.
| Form | Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
| One syllable Add : -er / -est to the adjective. |
long nice hot |
longer than nicer than hotter than |
the longest the nicest the hottest |
| Two or more syllables Add: more-less or most-least before the adjective. |
interesting practical |
more
interesting than less practical than |
the most interesting the least interesting |
| Two syllables ending in -y The 'y' becomes 'i' before -er/-est |
funny easy happy |
funnier
than easier than happier than |
the funniest the easiest the happiest |
| Irregular Adjectives | good bad much/many little far |
better than worse than more than less than farther/further than |
the best the worst the most the least the farthest/furthest |
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Please note: 1) Some two-syllable adjectives have two possible forms of comparison, for example:
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2) Adjectives ending with a vowel and a consonant
double the consonant, for example:
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See also: repeated adjectives
and double-comparatives
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