Comparative & Superlative Adjectives - English Grammar Lesson (with PDF & Quiz)

- Adjectives and adverbs

are great for adding detail to your story

but what if you want to talk about how one person idea

or thing compares to another one?

This is where the comparative structure comes into play.

We use comparisons to provide richer detail

and more context for the listener or reader.

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Today, we are going to discuss

comparative and superlative adjectives.

You likely already know that adjectives and adverbs

modify nouns and verbs

and it's possible to make comparative sentences

simply using an adjective or adverb

using the as-as

or not-as-as pattern.

For example, "She is as pretty as her mother."

Or, "The test was not as easy as I thought."

But today's lesson will focus on making comparisons

using comparative and superlative adjectives,

comparatives and superlatives for short.

A comparative is used to compare two nouns,

words like faster,

slower, shorter, smaller.

Notice that comparatives often end in e-r, er,

but not always.

A superlative is used to compare three or more objects

that are at the upper and lower limits of quality,

words like the fastest, the slowest,

the shortest, the smallest.

Notice the word the comes before the superlative.

Now that you understand the differences

between comparatives and superlatives,

let's look at a few important rules to follow

when making comparisons.

Let's start by learning how to form a comparative sentence.

They follow this pattern:

noun, subject, plus verb,

plus comparative adjective,

plus than, plus noun, object.

We must use the word than after the comparative adjective

in comparative sentences,

like, "She is shorter than Lisa."

"Our car is faster than his."

The pattern for writing a superlative sentence

is a bit different.

The pattern is subject noun, plus verb,

plus the, plus superlative adjective,

plus the object noun.

We omit than but place the before the superlative adjective.

For example, "She is the shortest in the class."

Or, "Our car is the fastest in town."

Now, forming regular comparatives

and superlatives is fairly easy.

Let's look at a few rules.

For one syllable adjectives, we add er

to comparatives and est to superlatives:

large, larger, largest;

old, older, oldest.

Notice with the superlatives,

I'm not saying est, ol-dest.

I'm saying ist, ol-dist.

An example, it was the largest house we had ever seen.

Adjectives that follow the consonant,

plus single vowel, plus consonant pattern

must double the final consonant.

That sounds complicated

but you'll see it and it will become clear:

sad, sadder, saddest;

fat, fatter, fattest.

Do you see what I mean there?

Consonant, vowel, consonant.

We double the final consonant

to make comparatives and superlatives.

An example, "Your cat is much fatter than last time."

Now let's talk about most two-syllable words.

Not all of them, there are always exceptions

but most of them.

Most two-syllable comparatives will add more or less

and the superlatives will add most or least.

Thoughtful, more thoughtful or less thoughtful

and most thoughtful or least thoughtful.

Pleasant, more or less pleasant, most or least pleasant.

We don't say pleasanter or pleasantest.

An example, "We have the most thoughtful neighbours

in this neighbourhood."

There are other two-syllable adjectives.

What about the ones that end in y?

If a two-syllable adjective ends in y,

we remove the y, we change it to i,

and we add er in the comparative form

and est in the superlative form:

happy, happier, happiest;

hungry, hungrier, hungriest.

An example, "Nobody is hungrier than Carl

after a cricket match."

We have some other two-syllable adjectives.

We have some ending with or or ow

which are treated

like regular comparatives and superlatives.

We add er to the comparatives and est to the superlatives:

narrow, narrower, narrowest;

poor, poorer, poorest.

"They took us on the narrowest bridge."

We have adverbs ending in ly.

Adverbs that end in ly receive

more or less in the comparative form

and most or least in the superlative form.

Slowly, more or less slowly,

most or least slowly.

Lively, more or less lively,

most or least lively.

An example, "Georgie drives the most slowly

out of the people in my family."

You could also say, "Georgie drives the slowest

out of the people in my family."

Now this is where it gets a bit tricky.

Some adjectives can be correct in either form.

Let's look at a few examples.

Friendly, this can be friendlier

or more friendly or less friendly.

It can be friendliest or most or least friendly.

Simple is the same, simple, simpler, simplest

or simple, more/less simple, most/least simple.

The same goes for clever,

cleverer or cleverest,

or more or less clever,

or most or least clever.

An example, "That was simpler than I expected."

Or, "That was more simple than I expected."

There are, of course, some irregular adjectives

that don't follow any rule.

These need to be memorised which comes with practise.

For example: bad, worst, worst;

good, better, best;

little, less, least;

far, farther, farthest,

or far, further, furthest.

Further and furthest is more common in British English

and farther and farthest is more common in American English.

It's important that you recognise both.

An example, "My experience at that restaurant

was the worst I had my entire trip."

Right, that's it for me today.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson

and I hope you learnt something.

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I will see you soon for another lesson, bye.

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