Comparative and superlative of adjectives
>
<
An adjective is a word that modifies a noun. An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Adjectives and adverbs describe other words (things). Both have two additional forms: A comparative form which compares two things, and a superlative form which compares three or more things. The following are examples of the rule mentioned earlier (using "big" as the adjective).
Comparative: The first house is bigger than the second (comparison of two objects)
Superlative: The first house is the biggest among the three (comparison of more than two objects)
The tricky part is to learn how to form the comparatives and superlatives of the adjectives. Have a look at the table in order to learn the rules.
| Type of Adjective | Comparative rule | Superlative rule | Example adjective - comparative - superlative |
| Adjectives with one syllable, more than one vowel OR more than one consonant at the end. | Add er at the end | Add est at the end | tall - taller - tallest small - smaller - smallest old - older - oldest |
| Adjective ends with e and has one syllable | Add r | Add st | large - larger - largest wide - wider - widest nice - nicer - nicest |
| Adjective with one syllable, one vowel and one consonant at the end | Double the last consonant, and add er | Double the last consonant, and add est | big- bigger - biggest thin - thinner - thinnest glad - gladder - gladdest |
| Adjective ending in Y with two syllables | Change y to i, then add er | Change y to i, then add est | happy - happier - happiest angry - angrier - angriest crazy - crazier - craziest |
| Adjective Ending with -er, -le, or -ow with two syllables | Add er | Add est | narrow - narrower - narrowest gentle - gentler - gentlest yellow - yellower - yellowest simple - simpler - simplest |
| all other adjectives with two syllables | Add the word more before the adjective | Add the word most before the adjective | interesting - more interesting - most interesting beautiful - more beautiful - most beautiful |
|
| |||
Exceptions:
| adjective | comparative | superlative |
| bad | worse | worst |
| good | better | best |
| little | less | least |
| many | more | most |
| much | more | most |
| far | farther/further | farthest/furthest |
Continue to: Comparative and Superlative of Adverbs >>
Comparative and superlative of adjectives