COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

We use the comparative when comparing one person or thing with

another and the superlative when comparing one person or thing with
more than one other.

Adjectives with one syllable

We add “-er” to form the comparative and “-est” to form the superlative.

COLD - COLDER than - the COLDEST

DIRTY - DIRTIER than - the DIRTIEST /// BUSY-HAPPY etc.///
HOT - HOTTER than - the HOTTEST /// BIG-FAT-WET etc.///

Adjectives with two or more syllables

We add the word “more” to form the comparative and the words “the
most” to form the superlative.

BEAUTIFUL - MORE BEAUTIFUL than - the MOST BEAUTIFUL

Other adjectives: INTERESTING-EXCITING-FANTASTIC-COMFORTABLE-

FAMOUS etc.

Note: Some two-syllable adjectives have two comparative and

superlative forms.

HAPPY - HAPPIER/MORE HAPPY than - the HAPPIEST/MOST HAPPY

Other adjectives: CLEVER-COMMON-PLEASANT-QUIET-SIMPLE

Irregular comparisons

GOOD/WELL - BETTER than - THE BEST

BAD - WORSE than - the WORST
FAR - FARTHER than - the FARTHEST /refer to distance/
- FURTHER than - the FURTHEST /refer to distance and also mean “in
addition”/

A- Complete these sentences

1. I think Chinese is ........................................... language to speak in the

world. /difficult/
2. Your hotel is ........................................... from the beach. /far/
3. This country has ........................................... weather in the world.
/bad/
4. Be careful! This is ........................................... part of the river. /wide/
5. It’s ........................................... hotel in the city. /modern/
6. ........................................... city in Scotland is Glasgow. /large/
7. Air travel is ........................................... rail travel. /quick/
8. Travelling by taxi is ........................................... travelling by bus.
/expensive/
9. Tokyo is ........................................... Rome. /big/
10. Egypt has much ........................................... summers than the U.K.
/hot/
11.Adventure holidays are ........................................... beach holidays.
/exciting/
12.Buenos Aires has ........................................... nightlife in South
America. /exciting/

B- Fill in the spaces in these dialogues with the comparative and

superlative forms of the adjectives in brackets.

1. A: I’d like to change my room, please. Have you got anything a bit
................................... ? /quiet/
B: Yes, of course. I’ll move you to room 423. It’s ...................................
part of the hotel.

2. A: $250 per person is very expensive. Can’t you offer us

................................... terms than that? /good/
B: I’m afraid not. $250 is ................................... deal that we can offer.

3. A: I’d like an excursion, but something a bit ...................................

than a museum visit. /interesting/
B: Try the trip to Coimbra. Most people think it’s ...................................
trip that we do.

4. A: My room is very hot. Is there any way of making it

................................... ? /cold/
B: Turn the AC to 5. That’s ................................... setting.

5. A: I can’t see the sea from my room. Have you got anything with a
................................... view? /nice/
B: I’m afraid the rooms with ................................... views are already
occupied.

C- Read these comments about three hotels

ALEXANDER HOTEL HELENA HOTEL APOLLO HOTEL

***** *** ****
420 rooms 320 rooms 540 rooms
2 restaurants, bar, 2 restaurant, bar, tennis restaurant, pool, 2
pools, 6 tennis courts, court. tennis courts, shop.
2 squash courts,
jacuzzi.
10’ walk from beach 15’ walk from beach 5’ walk from beach
$ 560 -for 7 nights- $ 470 -for 7 nights- $ 530 -for 7 nights-

Now answer these questions:

Which hotel:

1. is the biggest?
...................................................................................................................
2. is nearest the beach?
....................................................................................................
3. is the most luxurious?
....................................................................................................
 4. has the best facilities?
...................................................................................................
5. has the widest choice of restaurant?
.......................................................................
6. is the cheapest?
..............................................................................................................

True or false?

7. The Helena is more expensive than the Apollo. T/F

...................................................................................................................
.............
8. The Apollo is farther from the beach than the Alexander. T/F
...................................................................................................................
..............
9. The Alexander has the largest numbers of rooms. T/F
...................................................................................................................
..............
10. The Alexander has more tennis courts than squash courts. T/F
...................................................................................................................
...............