by Walkees

Comparatives & superlatives

• Forming regular comparatives and superlatives
• We use comparatives to compare two things or two people. (e.g She
is taller than her husband.)
• Superlatives are used, however, to compare to show the difference
between more than two things or more than two people. (e.g Paris
is the biggest city in France)
• To form comparatives and superlatives you need to know the
number of syllables in the adjective. Syllables are like "sound beats".
• For instance:
• "find" contains one syllable,
• but "finding" contains two — find and ing.
The rules to form comparatives and superlatives:

1. One syllable adjective ending in a silent 'e' — nice

Comparative — add 'r' — nicer
Superlative — add 'st' — nicest
2. One syllable adjective ending in one vowel and one consonant — big
Comparative — the consonant is doubled and 'er' is added —bigger
Superlative — the consonant is doubled and 'est' is added—biggest
3. One syllable adjective ending in more than one consonant or more than a vowel
— high, cheap
Comparative — 'er' is added — higher, cheaper
Superlative — 'est is added — highest, cheapest
4. A two syllable adjective ending in 'y' — happy
Comparative — 'y' becomes 'i' and 'er' is added — happier
Superlative — 'y' becomes 'i' and 'est' is added — happiest
5. Tow syllable or more adjectives without 'y' at the end — exciting
Comparative — more + the adjective + than — more exciting than
Superlative — more + the adjective + than — the most exciting
 Examples.
• The Nile River is longer and more famous than the
Thames.
• Egypt is much hotter than Sweden.
• Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
• This is one of the most exciting films I have ever seen.
Complete the sentences with the right
comparatives and superlatives.
Use the adjectives from the second column.
When clicking on the speaker you can listen
to the pronunciation of the whole sentence.
 Comparatives &
superlatives
Fill in the missing comparative or superlative. Use the
adjective from the next column.
Adjective

Do you think this summer will be ____________ than usual? HOT

hotter
This is ________________________ book that I have ever read. EXITING
the most exiting
Tom is _______________
the laziest person I know. LAZY
Flying is ____________________
the quickest way to travel. QUICK
The camera you bought is ______________
better than mine. GOOD
His mother had three sons, and he was __________________
the youngest . YOUNG
Today was __________________ day of my life. BAD
the worst
Mary is one of the _____________
prettiest women in Boston. PRETTY
You’re ________________________
more beautiful than I remember you. BEAUTIFUL
Jupiter is ___________________
the biggest planet in our solar system. BIG
This book is much ______________________ than that one. USEFUL
more useful
 Comparatives &
superlatives
Fill in the missing comparative or superlative. Use the
adjective from the next column.
Adjective

What do you think is _________________

the busiest airport in the world? BUSY
Roger is only a few centimeters ______________
taller than Jessica. TALL
This is probably ______________________ book in the world. BORING
the most boring
The fog is getting ______________ . THICK
thicker
This is ____________________ shop in town. CHEAP
the cheapest
That was ____________________ movie I’ve ever seen. SCARY
the scariest
Fred’s bedroom is _______________ than mine. CLEAN
cleaner
John is _____________
shorter than all of his friends. SHORT
January is usually ____________________
the coldest month. COLD
Life was so much ______________
simpler before all that happened. SIMPLE
This is ___________________________ chair in the house. COMFORTABLE
the most comfortable
 Comparatives &
superlatives
Fill in the missing comparative or superlative. Use the
adjective from the next column.
Adjective

Oranges are ______________

sweeter than lemons. SWEET
The earth is ______________
smaller than the sun. SMALL
Susan is _____________________ girl in town. CUTE
the cutest
Jack’s parents are much _______________ than Kate’s parents. STRICT
stricter
Mosquitoes are perhaps one of ________________________ DANGEROUS
animals in the world. the most dangerous
What’s your _____________ secret? DARK
darkest
Who do you think is ______________________ kid in your SMART
class? the smartest
That is one of _____________________ languages in the world. DIFFICULT
the
What doesn’t kill memost
makes difficult
me _______________. STRONG
stronger
BETTER
(English)
END