There are two ways to make or form a comparative
adjective:
- short adjectives:
add "-er"
- long adjectives:
use "more"
Short
adjectives
|
|
|
old, fast
|
|
happy, easy
|
Normal
rule: add "-er"
|
old → older
|
Variation: if
the adjective ends in -e, just add -r
|
late → later
|
Variation: if
the adjective ends in consonant, vowel, consonant, double the last consonant
|
big → bigger
|
Variation: if
the adjective ends in -y, change the y to i
|
happy → happier
|
Long
adjectives
|
|
|
modern, pleasant
|
|
expensive, intellectual
|
Normal
rule: use "more"
|
modern → more modern
expensive → more expensive |
With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-er' or 'more':
- quiet → quieter/more quiet
- clever → cleverer/more
clever
- narrow → narrower/more
narrow
- simple → simpler/more simple
Exception
The following adjectives have irregular forms:
The following adjectives have irregular forms:
- good → better
- well (healthy) → better
- bad → worse
- far → farther/further
Use of Comparative Adjectives
We use comparative adjectives when talking about 2
things (not 3 or 10 or 1,000,000 things, only 2 things).
Often, the comparative adjective is followed by
"than".
Look at these examples:
- John is 1m80. He is tall. But Chris is 1m85. He is taller than John.
- America is big. But Russia is bigger.
- I want to have a more powerful computer.
- Is French more difficult than English?
If we talk about the two planets Earth and Mars, we
can compare them as shown in the table below:
Earth
|
Mars
|
||
Diameter (km)
|
12,760
|
6,790
|
Mars is smaller than Earth.
|
Distance from
Sun (million km)
|
150
|
228
|
Mars is more distant from the Sun.
|
Length of day (hours)
|
24
|
25
|
A day on Mars is
slightly longerthan a day on Earth.
|
Moons
|
1
|
2
|
Mars has more moons than Earth.
|
Surface temperature (degrees Celcius)
|
22
|
-23
|
Mars is colder than Earth.
|
Although we use comparative adjectives when talking about two things (not three
or more things), in fact one or both of the things may be a group of things.
- Mt Everest is higher than all other mountains.
Here, we are
talking about hundreds of mountains, but we are still comparing one thing (Mt
Everest) to one other thing (all other mountains).
Superlative
Adjectives
A superlative adjective expresses the extreme or
highest degree of a quality. We use a superlative adjective to describe the
extreme quality of one thing in a group of things.
In the example below, "biggest" is the
superlative form of the adjective "big":
A B C
A is the biggest.
|
In this lesson we will look first at how we make
superlative adjectives, and then at how we use them:
Formation
of Superlative Adjectives
As with comparative adjectives, there are two ways to
form a superlative adjective:
- short adjectives:
add "-est"
- long adjectives:
use "most"
We also usually add 'the' at the beginning.
Short
adjectives
|
|
1-syllable adjectives
|
old, fast
|
2-syllable
adjectives ending in -y
|
happy, easy
|
Normal
rule: add "-est"
|
old → the oldest
|
Variation: if
the adjective ends in -e, just add -st
|
late → the latest
|
Variation: if
the adjective ends in consonant, vowel, consonant, double the last consonant
|
big → the biggest
|
Variation: if
the adjective ends in -y, change the y to i
|
happy → the
happiest
|
Long
adjectives
|
|
2-syllable
adjectives not ending in -y
|
modern, pleasant
|
all adjectives
of 3 or more syllables
|
expensive, intellectual
|
Normal
rule: use "most"
|
modern → the most modern
expensive → the most expensive |
With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-est' or 'most':
- quiet → the quietest/most
quiet
- clever → the cleverest/most
clever
- narrow → the narrowest/most
narrow
- simple → the simplest/most
simple
Exception
The following adjectives have irregular forms:
The following adjectives have irregular forms:
- good → the best
- bad → the worst
- far → the
farthest/furthest
Use of Superlative Adjectives
We use a superlative adjective to describe one thing
in a group of three or more things. Look
at these examples:
- John is 1m75. David is 1m80. Chris is 1m85. Chris is the tallest.
- Canada, China and Russia are big countries. But Russia is the biggest.
- Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
If we talk about the three planets Earth, Mars and
Jupiter, we can use superlative adjectives as shown in the table below:
Earth
|
Mars
|
Jupiter
|
||
Dia-
meter (km) |
12,760
|
6,790
|
142,800
|
Jupiter is the biggest.
|
Dis-
tance from Sun (million km) |
150
|
228
|
778
|
Jupiter is the most distantfrom the Sun.
|
Length of day (hours)
|
24
|
25
|
10
|
Jupiter has the shortest day.
|
Moons
|
1
|
2
|
16
|
Jupiter has the most moons.
|
Surface temp.
(degrees Celcius) |
22
|
-23
|
-150
|
Jupiter is the coldest.
|
When we compare one thing with itself, we do not use "the":
- England is coldest in winter. (not the coldest)
- My boss is most generous when we get a big order. (not the most generous)