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Comparative and superlative adjectives – the easy way

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Nov 26th

 

comparative

Ready-to-use chart on comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.

 

 

 

 

 Positive form Comparative form   Superlative form
One syllable General rule: tall, small, old  Add -er: taller, smaller, older  Add -est: tallest, smallest, oldest
ending in -e: large, wide, fine Add -r: larger, wider, finer  Add -est: largest, widest, finest
ending in c+v+c: big, hot, thin (c=consonant; v=vowel) Double the consonant, and add -er: bigger, hotter, thinner Double the consonant, and add -est: biggest, hottest, thinnest
Two syllables ending in -y: happy, angry, heavy Change y to i, and add -er: happier, angrier, heavier Change y to i, and add -est: happiest, angriest, heaviest
not ending in -y: modern, peaceful, pleasant Use “more” before the adjective: more modern, more peaceful, more pleasant Use “most“ before the adjective: most modern, most peaceful, most pleasant
ending in -er, -le, or -ow: clever, simple, narrow We can use -er or “more“: cleverer, simpler, narrower / more clever, more simple, more narrow We can use -est or “most“: cleverest, simplest, narrowest / most clever, most simple, most narrow
Three or more syllables: important, intelligent, beautiful  Use “more” before the adjective: more important, more intelligent, more beautiful  Use “more” before the adjective: most important, most intelligent, most beautiful

 

Irregular adjectives
Positive form Comparative form Superlative form
good better best
bad worse worst
far farther (length, distance) / further (time, amount) farthest / furthest
little less least
many more most

 

Comparative and superlative sentence structures
Comparative  Use “than” after the adjective: John is taller than Frank / Mary is more intelligent than her sister
Superlative  Use “the” before the adjective: John is the tallest boy in the class / Mary is the most intelligent in the class

 

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