Comparatives and Superlatives

07.03.2022
Comparatives and Superlatives

1. Comparative adjectives compare one person or

thing with another and enable us to say whether a
person or thing has more or less of a particular
quality:
• This car is more expensive than my last one.

2. Superlative adjectives describe one person or

thing as having more of a quality than all other
people or things in a group:
• Joe used to be the slowest runner in the class.
Comparison: Adjectives

1. A comparative compares a person or thing with

another person or thing. A superlative compares
a person or thing with the whole group of which
that person or thing is a member:

• Joe’s older than Mike. (comparing one person

with another)
• Sheila is the youngest girl in the family.
(comparing one person with the whole group she
belongs to)
How to form
comparatives and
superlatives
Comparatives and Superlatives

1. To form the comparative, we use the -er suf x with

adjectives of one syllable:
• It’s colder today than yesterday.
• It was a longer holiday than the one we had last
year.
• Sasha is older than Mark.
2. To form the superlative, we use the -est suf x with
adjectives of one syllable. We normally use the
before a superlative adjective:
• I think that’s the biggest apple I’ve ever seen!
• At one time, the Empire State building in New York
was the tallest building in the world.
• They have three boys. Richard is the oldest and
Simon is the youngest.
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Do we use the
suffixes -er and
-est for all
adjectives?
One-Syllable Irregular Adjectives

1. Some one-syllable adjectives have irregular

comparative and superlative forms:
• bad, worse, worst far, farther/further, farthest/
furthest
• good, better, best old, older/elder, oldest/eldest

• The morning ight is better than the afternoon

one.
• His elder sister works for the government.
• Olivia is Denise’s best friend.
• I think that was the worst lm I’ve ever seen!
• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun in our
solar system.
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Two-Syllable Irregular Adjectives

1. Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y change y

to i and take the -er and -est endings:

• busy, busier, busiest

• happy, happier, happiest
• easy, easier, easiest
• funny, funnier, funniest

• We were busier last week than this week.

• Are you happier now that you’ve changed your
job?
• That was the easiest exam I’ve ever taken.
I see “than” in some comparative
sentences, but sometimes I
don’t. I’m a bit confused. When
should I use “than”?
Two-Syllable Irregular Adjectives

1. We use than when we mention the second person or

thing in the comparison. If the second person
mentioned takes the form of a personal pronoun, we
normally use the object form of the pronoun (me,
you, him, her, us, them):
• Could you carry this? You’re stronger than me.
• Not: You’re stronger than I.
• Why did you choose Robert? Marie is more
experienced than him.
2. In more formal situations, instead of than + object
pronoun, we can use than + subject pronoun + be:
• You managed to answer the ten questions correctly?
Well, you’re de nitely cleverer than I am!
• I preferred Henrietta to Dennis. She was always more
sociable than he was.
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Are there any other
comparative structures that
we can use?
As + adjective + as

1. Yes, and one of them is as + adjective + as.

2. We use as + adjective/adverb + as to make
comparisons when the things we are
comparing are equal in some way:

• The world’s biggest bull is as big as a small

elephant.
• The weather this summer is as bad as last year.
It hasn’t stopped raining for weeks.
• You have to unwrap it as carefully as you can.
It’s quite fragile.
Not as … as
1. We use not as … as to make comparisons between
things which aren’t equal:
• It’s not as heavy as I thought it would be, actually.
• Rory hasn’t grown as tall as Tommy yet.
• She’s not singing as loudly as she can.
• They didn’t play as well as they usually do.

2. We can modify not as … as by using not quite as or not

nearly as:
• The second race was not quite as easy as the rst one.
(The second race was easy but the rst one was easier.)
• These new shoes are not nearly as comfortable as my
old ones. (My old shoes are a lot more comfortable than
these new shoes.)
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The same (as) and different from

1. We use the same (as) when two things are

equal:

• The price of the rabbits and the guinea pigs is

the same.
• Mika’s motorbike is the same as mine. We both
have Honda 250s.
The price of the rabbits and the
guinea pigs is the same.

Mika’s motorbike is the same as

mine.

Why did we use “as” in the second

sentence?
Similar to and Different From

1. We use similar (to) when something is nearly

the same:
• Indian elephants are similar to African
elephants, but they are a bit smaller.

2. Different from is the opposite of the same as.

• Tigers are different from leopards. Tigers are
much bigger.
How to make
comparisons
stronger or weaker
Making comparisons stronger

1. We can strengthen or emphasise a

comparative adjective using words such as
much, a lot, far, even or rather, or by using
than ever after the adjective:
• This food is much better than the food we had
yesterday.
• The town is a lot more crowded these days
because of the new shopping centre.
• Alex is far less intelligent than the other kids in
the class.
• We’ve been busier than ever at work this last
month or
Making comparisons stronger

1. We can also make superlatives stronger with

by far. It means there is a big difference:

• Fredrik is by far the tallest student in our class:

(= He is much taller than all the others)
Making comparisons weaker

1. We can soften a comparative adjective using a

little or a bit. A bit is less formal:

• She feels a little more con dent now that

she’s given her rst public performance.
or
• She feels a bit more con dent … (less formal)
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Comparison of Adverbs
Comparison of adverbs
1. Adverbs do not normally change in form, but a few
have comparative and superlative forms. These
are usually short adverbs and so they normally
have comparative and superlative forms with -er
and -est.
2. Some of the most common comparative and
superlative adverbs are:
• soon - sooner - soonest
• fast - faster - fastest
• hard - harder - hardest
• near - nearer - nearest
• early - earlier - earliest
• late - later - latest
• far - farther (further) - farthest (furthest)
Comparison of adverbs

• Teachers always say that students must work

harder.
• The kids were playing in the garden, seeing who
could jump highest.

Warning:

• We don’t use more or most together with an

-er or -est ending:

Children learn things faster than adults.

Not: … more faster than adults.
Who ran slowest in the race?
Not: Who ran most slowest

Adverbs with more and most

1. Adverbs with two or more syllables form the

comparative and superlative with more and
most:
• We need to treat the environment more
carefully.
• It was the most beautifully designed chair.
• You see foxes in towns more frequently these
days.
• Can you speak more quietly? I’m trying to rest.
2. The opposite of more/the most + adverb is
less/the least + adverb.
• I go to the dentist less regularly than I used to.
Irregular comparative and
superlative adverbs
1. There are some irregular comparative and
superlative adverbs:
• well - better - (the) best
• badly - worse - (the) worst
• far - farther - (the) farthest

• I played worse than usual yesterday.

• Karl played best in last Saturday’s match.

Natural English:

We often leave out the in superlative adverbs,

especially irregular ones.

As + adverb + as

1. We use (not) as + adverb + as to compare two

actions:
• I speak Polish as uently as Tomas.
• The Arctic Tem can’t y as fast as some other
birds.
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Making comparisons stronger or
weaker
1. You can make the meaning of comparative adverbs
stronger with much, a lot and far:
• My grandmother has been walking much more
slowly since her accident.
• I exercise far less often than my brothers.
• Athletes have to train a lot harder these days.

2. We can make comparisons weaker with a bit, slightly,

a little.
• Computers work a little faster if you add memory to
them.
• Can you come a bit sooner?
• On Sundays trains run slightly less frequently than
during the week.