Comparatives and superlatives
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Sign up for freeComparative adjectives are used to compare two or more things, situations, or individuals. They modify the regular adjectives with specific endings to establish the comparison between the nouns.
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Comparative adjectives, as we already established, are used to compare two or more things. That is achieved by adding a specific suffix or an adjective in front of the word and using the adverb than before the second comparative word.
Amount of syllables | Rule | Example |
---|---|---|
Only one | Add -er in the end of the adjective | Taller |
Two or more | Add more/less before the word | More/less intelligent |
When the word finishes with -e | Add -r at the end | Larger |
When the adjective ends in a consonant vowel and a consonant | Repeat last consonant before adding -er | Bigger |
Structure | Example |
---|---|
Adjective -er + than | My device is quicker than yours. |
More + adjective + than | New York is more fun than Phoenix. |
Much + adjective -er | The Bol delivery was much quicker than Amazon. |
A bit / little + adjective -er | She is a bit taller than me. |
Structure | Example |
---|---|
(Not) + as + adjective + as | They are not as fun as us. |
Less + adjective + than | Good protection is less expensive than a hospital bill. |
In these inferiority cases it is not necessary to change the adjective
Structure | Example |
---|---|
As + adjective + as | Their services are as expensive as ours. |
In these comparative of equality cases it is not necessary to change the adjective either.
Superlatives are used to showcase the highest or the lowest level of comparison between things and individuals. While comparatives compare two or more things with each other superlatives compare one thing with everything else and conclude it's position as the greatest or the lowest. It can also be referred to as the highest degree of comparison.
Amount of syllables | Rule | Superlative example |
---|---|---|
Only one | Add -est in the end of the adjective | The tallest |
Two or more | Add most/least before the word | The most/least intelligent |
When the word finishes with -e | Add -st | The largest |
When the adjective ends in a consonant vowel and a consonant | Repeat last consonant before adding -est | The biggest |
With superlatives as we are also referring to the highest or the lowest degree ofsomething to make it clear we refer to only one thing we also need to place the article "the" at the front.
Irregular adjectives are adjectives that don't submit to the rules for a comparative and superlative form that we discussed in the lesson. They have a special form that you must learn by heart.
Adjective | Comparative form | Superlative form |
---|---|---|
Good | Better | The best |
Well | Better | The best |
Bad | Worse | The worst |
Ill | Worse | The worst |
Old | Elder or older | The eldest or the oldest |
Little | Less | The least |
Much | More | The most |
Many | More | The most |
Far | Further | The furthest |