Comparative & superlative

Comparatives and Superlatives:

Definition, Examples, & Exercises
Comparatives and superlatives are special
types of adjectives/adverbs used
when comparing two or more things. The
trickiest thing when using comparatives and
superlatives is making sure we are writing
them the correct way, but with a little practice,
comparatives and superlatives can quickly be
mastered.
In this Presentation we’ll review what
comparatives and superlatives are, the rules
for how to form these adjectives the correct
way, and how to use them effectively in a
sentence.
 What is an adjective?
Definitions: Adjectives may also follow
adjective is a word or set the word they
of words modify:Examples:
That puppy looks cute.
that modifies (i.e.,
The technology is state-of-
describes) a noun or the-art.
pronoun. Adjectives may
come before the word they
modify.
Examples:
That is a cute puppy.
She likes a high
school senior.
 What is an adverb?
• An adverb is a word or set of words that modifies
verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Adverbs
answer how, when, where, why, or to what extent—
how often or how much (e.g., daily, completely).

Examples:
• He speaks slowly (tells how)
He speaks very slowly (the adverb very tells how slowly)
She arrived today (tells when)
She will arrive in an hour (this adverb phrase tells when)
Let's go outside (tells where)
We looked in the basement (this adverb phrase tells where)
Bernie left to avoid trouble (this adverb phrase tells why)
Jorge works out strenuously (tells to what extent)
Jorge works out whenever possible (this adverb phrase
tells to what extent)
Comparative adjective
▪ Comparative Adjectives are words used
to describe a noun by comparing it to
another noun. We usually think of ‘er’
words like bigger or smaller, but they
can be a little trickier than that.

• The way we form comparative

adjectives is based on the number of
syllables in the adjective and whether
or not the adjective ends with the letter
‘y’.
 Comparative adverbs
While comparative adjectives
describe similarities and differences
between two nouns (people, places,
or objects), comparative
adverbs make comparisons between
two verbs—that is, they describe
how, when, how often, or to what
degree an action is done.
For example: ... “John runs faster
than Tim.” (comparative adverb)
Examples:

Adjective Adverb Comparati

ve

good well better

fast fast faster

hard hard harder

daily daily more daily

straight straight more

straight

bad badly worse

 Superlative adjective
What is a Superlative?
Superlative Adjectives are words used to
describe a noun when comparing it to
two or more nouns to the highest or
lowest degree. Think: big, bigger, biggest,
or small, smaller, smallest.

Like with comparative adjectives, it’s not

always as simple as adding ‘est’. The
number of syllables and whether or not
the adjective ends with the letter ‘y’ also
help us determine how to form a
superlative adjective.
Superlative adverbs
A superlative adverb is used to
compare three or more people,
places, or things. It's used to
state that the action performed
is to the highest degree within a
group or of its kind. They are
sometimes preceded by the
word “the” but not always.
With short adverbs that do not
end in -ly comparative
and superlative forms are
identical to adjectives: add -er to
form the comparative and -est to
form the superlative.
Examples:
adjective Superlative

short shortest

pretty prettiest

simple simplest

fast fastest

intelligent most intelligent

carefully most carefully

dangerous least dangerous

 Practice
1.Sally is the ____________ girl in our class. 7. The ____________ girl that I took to
tallest lovely
A. tall B. taller C. tallest prom is sick.
2. Of the two, I think Tim is ____________
smartest . A.lovely B.lovelier C.loveliest
A. smart B. smarter C. smartest 8. Between the two, I think the yellow
dress is ____________
more stylish .
3. Mom bought a ____________
prettier dress than I did.
A.stylish B.more stylish C.most stylish
A. pretty B. prettier C. prettiest
9. I was ____________
more tired than ever before.
4. In all the world, Paris is probably themost
_________city.
romantic
A.tired B.more tired C.most tired
A.romantic B.more romantic C.most romantic 10. Of the three choices, the second one
hysterical cry got my attention.
5. Mary’s ____________ is the ____________
nicer .
A.hysterical B.more hysterical C.most hysterical A. nice B. nicer C. nicest
6. My husband is very ____________
handsome . heaviest
11. Ted is the ____________ person on
A.handsome B.more handsome C.most handsome . the team.
A. heavy B. heavier C. heaviest