4 Comparatives and superlatives (page 17) A Types of comparison 1 We use the comparative form or as ... as to compare two or more people, things, places, etc. Chloe is a better singer than Hannah, (to a higher degree) Harry is as good a dancer as Ryan. (to the same degree) Amy is less confident than Katie. (to a lower degree) Amy is not as confident as Katie. (to a lower degree) 2 We use the superlative form when we want to pick out one person, thing, place, etc. from all the others: Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Scotland.B Adjectives 1 Regular adjectives: Comparative | Superlative one syllable | old older (than) (the) oldest large | larger (than) (the) largest one syllable | big bigger (than) | (the) biggest with one vowel +one consonant at the end one or two | happy | happier (than) _| (the) happiest syllables with -y at the end two or careful | more careful (the) most more (than) careful syllables i 2 ay ons: One-syllable adjectives: | feel more ill today than | did yesterday. | feel colder/more cold today than | did yesterday. We got more and more lost. (adjectives formed from past participles) * Some common two-syllable adjectives (e.g. clever, gentle, simple, shallow, narrow, pleasant, cruel, polite, quiet, stupid): clever - cleverer/more clever - cleverest/the most clever * Two-syllable adjectives ending with -y: He looks much happier/more happy these days. Ungradable adjectives (e.g. superior, unique, fundamental) do not have a comparative form. C Adverbs 1 We don't use more/the most with adverbs which have the same form as adjectives (e.g. hard, fast, early, long, quick): fast - faster - fastest early - earlier - earliest 2 With most other adverbs, we use more/(the)most: more carefully - the most carefully Note: In informal English, you will sometimes hear -er/-est adjectives instead of the more ‘correct’ more/most adverbs: We walked much slower than usual. (instead of much more slowly) D_ Irregular adjectives/adverbs Comparative Superlative the) best worse (than) the good/well | better (than) bad/badly much little less (than) far farther/further (than) old elder/older (than) the) farthest/furthest ( ( more (than) (the ( ( ( Idest/eldest ) ) the) least ) ) 0 the E Sentence patterns 1 N Ww aw wm oO Expert grammar comparative + than: The festival is more popular than it used to be. (than + clause) He’s better at cooking than me. (than + object pronoun) He’s better at cooking than I am. (than + subject pronoun + verb) Note The than clause is sometimes not stated: The city is getting more crowded these days. (i.e. than it was before) the + superlative + in/of: The celebration is the biggest in Latin America. It was the hottest night of the year. Note: The is not always used with the superlative form: Try your hardest! Jack and Jessica were best in the class. the + superlative + clause: It's the prettiest costume (that) I’ve ever seen. less/(the) least (the opposite of more/(the) most): He’s less intelligent than his sister. He’s the least intelligent person (that) | know. Note more commonly used: He’s not as intelligent as his sister. comparing quantities: We use more/less and the most/the least to compare quantities: She spends more/less than her brother does. (i.e. more/less money) She earns the most/least. (i.e. the most/least money) In formal style, fewer/fewest is used before plural nouns: There are more/fewer (of us) here each year. (plural countable noun) | spend more/less (of my) time practising the piano. (uncountable noun) patterns: In the next few years the internet will get quicker and quicker. (to show an increase) The earlier we leave, the earlier we get there. (The two changes go together.) The better the weather, the more crowded the roads. The less you earn, the less you have to spend. The sooner, the better. 183