In this Guide you will learn:
Definition: A comparative adjective is an adjective that compares two nouns.
Example: The men are taller than the women.
In this example we are comparing two nouns (the men and the women). The adjective in this sentence is “tall” but because we are comparing two nouns then we need to use the comparative adjective “taller”. This is different from a superlative adjective.
Definition: A superlative adjective is when we compare one noun to all of the other nouns
Example: John is the tallest man in the world!
So, you can see that in the first example we compared two nouns ( men and women) and in the second example we compared one noun (John) to all the other nouns (the people in the world).
| Rule | Comparative Adjective | Example |
|---|---|---|
1 syllable(short words) |
adjective +er |
I am taller than you. You are faster than me. |
2+ syllables (long words) |
more + adjective |
She is more beautiful than her mother. He is more intelligent than his brother. |
Words that end in Y |
-Y and +ier |
You are luckier than Peter. I am happier than my sister. |
After comparative forms we use the word THAN. The comparative forms is -er or more. We use the -er ending with one syllable adjectives like: short, tall, cheap.
Examples:
I’m shorter than my brother.
These shoes are cheaper than the blue ones.
My sister is taller than me.
When the adjectives are longer we use more such as: beautiful, expensive, interesting.
Examples:
She is more inquisitive than her sister.
That neighbourhood is more dangerous than my neighbourhood.
She runs faster than I or She runs faster than me?
As you can see in the last example if we are comparing two people, we use an object pronoun:
Examples:
My sister is taller than me. (object pronoun)
Alice is younger than her.
I’m faster than him.
I’m older than them.
They studied harder than us.
In this case you have to pay attention to the verb tense used in the main verb.
Examples:
You work harder than I do.
She ran faster than he did.
You’re taller than I am.
English possessive pronouns:
Examples:
Your phone is more expensive than my phone.
Or
Your phone is more expensive than mine.
Our car is older than your car.
Or
Our car is older than yours.
We also use -er ending with two-syllable adjectives ending in -y as in: easy, lucky, early and pretty.
This exam was easier than the last one.
I have to get up earlier.
This red dress is prettier than the white one.
As you can see, we change the -y for -ier.
Have a look at these examples:
Could you drive more slowly?
You have to drive more carefully, this road is very dangerous.
Can you speak more clearly?
There are regular adjectives such as:
Young (younger)
Old (older)
Fast (faster)
And there are irregular adjectives too, such as:
Good / Well – better
Bad / Badly – worse
Far – further
In these cases we don’t add the -er ending or the word more. Read these examples:
She is better at swimming than me.
The movie is better than the book
My house is further than your house.
I feel worse than yesterday.
In some cases we can use the ending -er or more with two syllable adjectives especially with the following: clever, narrow, quiet, simple, shallow.
She’s cleverer.
She’s more clever.
In this case both options are correct.
Modifiers:
We can add words like: much, a lot, far (=a lot), a little, a bit, slightly to modify the amount.
I feel much better today.
Are you a bit better today?
This book is a bit more expensive than the other.
Now that she changed her job she’s a lot happier.
Better and better
We repeat the comparatives to express that something changes continuously.
If you study English every day you’ll get better and better.
Renting is getting more and more expensive these days.
You can use the definite article “the” before an adjective to say that one thing depends on another.
The sooner we leave the better.
The further you go out of the city the cheaper it gets.
The longer we wait the later we’ll be.
The … The ….
You can add expressions with two comparative adjectives. Such as:
The sooner the better. (= as soon as possible the better)
The younger, the better. ( = as young as possible the better)
Older refers to the comparative of old, we use it only when we compare.
My best friend is older than me.
Elder is used when you talk about people in your family. You can also use older.
My elder sister works in the pharmacy.
Do you have an elder brother?
Attention: we do not say “My sister is elder than me”
We use less as an opposite of more. The adjectives will change in the same way as before, by adding -er or less instead of more.
Examples:
The movie is less interesting.
You’re less busy than I am.
Remember to add the word less in all the sentences you make.
Lazy ends in a Y so if you remember the rules from above you will know that the comparative adjective of lazy is lazier.
We use superlative adjectives when we compare one thing (object / person) with many things, this object stands out because it has more of a quality than others in the same group.
To form a superlative you add the definite article the and -est ending to one-syllable adjectives, like: tall, young, old, great.
For more than two-syllable adjectives you simply add the indefinite article the and most before adjectives such as: beautiful, interesting, amazing, brilliant.
Examples:
I’m the youngest in my class.
Mark is the tallest in the basketball team.
This is the greatest book I’ve ever read.
This painting is the most beautiful in the whole gallery.
She is the most inspiring woman I’ve ever met.
It’s his most brilliant work so far.
As you can see in the examples above one thing (a painting, a woman, work) stands out from a group or period of time (the whole gallery, so far)
| Comparative adjectives | Superlative adjectives |
|---|---|
Used when we compare two things. |
Used to compare more than two things. |
Form:+er or more+adjective |
Form: +est or the most+ adjective |
Examples: Alice is better at French than her friend. Travelling by plane is faster than travelling by car. Your phone is more expensive than mine. |
Examples: Alice is the best at French in the class Travelling by plane is the fastest way. Your phone is the most expensive one. |
A Complete the sentences with the comparative form.
B Complete the sentences using the from “the… the….” with the verb in brackets.
Here is a great game that you can play to practice comparative adjectives.
