Comparative/Superlative

Formation of comparatives and superlatives

Adjectives of one syllable take - (e)r/-(e)st to form their comparative and
superlative form.
Comparative Superlative
Strong Stronger (than) The strongest
Nice Nicer (than) The nicest

Adjectives of one syllable that end in a vowel+ a consonant, double the

last consonante and add –er / -est
Comparative Superlative
hot hotter (than) The hottest
Adjectives of two syllables ending in ly / y / w also take –er / est or –ier/-
iest
Comparative Superlative
ugly uglier (than) The ugliest
funny funnier (than) The funniest
shallow Shallower (than) The shallowest

Adjectives of two or more syllables take more / the most

Comparative Superlative
Expensive More expensive (than) The most expensive
Boring More boring (than) The most boring
 Adverbs
Adverbs taking –ly to the adjective take more in the comparative and the most
in the superlative
e.g. politely – more politely – the most politely

ADVERBS POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

Adverbs having the
same form as their fast faster the fastest
adjectives
add –er/-est
Early drops the –y and early earlier the earliest
add –ier/-iest
Two syllables adverbs
and those formed by simply more simply the most simply
adding –ly to their
adjective take more/the
most
 Irregular forms
Adjective/adverb Comparative Superlative
Good/well better The best
Bad/badly worse The worst
little less The least
Much/many more The most
far Farther/further The farthest/the furthest
 Other forms
• Very + adjective/adverb
e.g. This is a very silly excuse.

• Much/a lot/a bit/ a little / far / slightly + comparative form

e.g. Her health is much better now that she’s exercising more.

• By far + superlative form of adjective/adverb

e.g. Today is by far the hottest day we’ve had this summer.
Types of comparisons

• As + adjective +as - e.g. She is as talented as her sister.

• Not as + adjective + as
• Less+adjective+ than – e.g. The bus is less crowded than usual.
• The least + adjective + of/in – e.g. This is the least expensive supermarket.
Comparative+and+comparative

To show that something is increasing or decreasing, we repeat comparatives (… and…) to

indicate gradual increase
JOHN IS GETTING TALLER AND TALLER !
FOOD IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE EXPENSIVE

The comparative which is repeated can be with an adverb, an adjective, with or without
more or less.
 The+ comparative…,
the+comparative

To show that two things change together, or that one thing depends on another thing
THE OLDER SHE GETS, THE MORE BEAUTIFUL SHE BECOMES