COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

Adjectives describe or give information about nouns or pronouns. The positive form is the basic form of the adjective. We use comparative and superlative adjectives when we want to compare and contrast things.

The comparative is used to compare two things and to demonstrate the superiority, inferiority, or equality of one of them by respect to the other. You can use the comparative form of adjectives to compare differences between people, places and things. The comparative shows what quality has more or less one thing than the other.

Superlative is used to compare more than two things. A superlative adjective describes a noun and is used to single out people, places and things from others. It shows the highest degree of quality of what is described. The superlative form is used to say what thing, place or person has the most or the least of a particular quality. 

To make the comparative form of adjectives and the superlative form, first we need to know how many syllables are in the adjective:

Usually if an adjective has only one syllable:

Comparative: We add 'er'. Example: A plane is faster than a train.

Superlative: We add 'est'. Example: The cheetah is the fastest animal in the world.

 If there is one vowel followed by one consonant at the end of the adjective, we often double the consonant. Example: big= bigger/ biggest.

 If the adjective ends in 'y', this often changes to 'i'. Example: dry= drier/ driest.

If the adjective ends in 'e', we don't add another 'e', just 'r'. Example: nice= nicer/ nicest.

There are a few adjectives that we have to use 'more' or 'most' with, even though they only have one syllable. We CAN'T add 'er' or 'est': fun, real, right, wrong… 

For adjectives with two syllables we generally use 'more' or ‘most’:

Comparative: Today I’m more tired than yesterday.

Superlative: This is the most boring book I’ve ever read.

But some two syllable adjectives can take 'er' or 'est': clever, narrow, simple, quite… It's also fine to use 'more' (for the comparative) or 'most' (for the superlative).

Adjectives with two syllables that end in 'y' change y to i and add 'er' or 'est'.  Example: happy= happier/ happiest.

Adjectives ending in -ful, -less, -ing, -ed and many other adjectives make the comparative and superlative adding more and the most before the adjective. Example: useful= more useful/ the most useful.  

Adjectives with more than two syllables can only make their comparative by using 'more' and their superlatives by using 'most'.

Comparative: A sofa is more comfortable than a chair.

Superlative: The lion is the most dangerous animal. 

There are also some irregular adjectives. We just need to learn these forms.  The most used are:

good → better / best

bad → worse / worst

far → further / furthest

Examples: London is further than Paris. / Sydney is the furthest city. 

We put the comparative and superlative adjective before the noun. We use ‘than’ after a comparative adjective and ‘the’ before a superlative adjective. Examples:

Comparative: John is taller than Mark.

Superlative: John is the tallest player in the team.

Note the pattern with one of. Example: He is one of the best players. There are two or more good players in the team and he is one of them. He is a good player, one of the best, among others in the team.   

We use as … as to say that things are equal or unequal. The comparative of equality is formed by: as + adjective + as

Example: Our house is as big as yours.

But for negative comparison you use: not as + adjective + as

Example: I’m not as tall as you.   

Less and the least are the opposites of more and the most. We use them with both long and short words but we don’t normally use less with short adjectives of one syllable (big, good, high, small…); instead we use not as … as …

Examples:

This sofa is less comfortable than the old one. This sofa is more uncomfortable than the old one.

I’m less tall than John. I’m shorter than John.

I’m not as tall as John. John is taller than me.

This sofa is the least comfortable I have ever had. This sofa is the most uncomfortable in the shop.

The white horse is the least fast in the race. The white horse is the slowest.  

We can strengthen or emphasize a comparative adjective using words such as much, a lot, far, even or rather, or by using than ever after the adjective:

Example: This food is much better than the food we had yesterday.

We can soften a comparative adjective using a little or a bit. A bit is less formal:

Example: She is a little more intelligent than her sister.  

Write some sentences using the comparative of superiority, equality and inferiority, and some using the superlative form of the adjectives.