GRAMMAR

ADJECTIVES : COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

FORMS

“I’M THE THINNEST PIRATE IN THE SHIP.

HO, HO, HO. ”
1st. GROUP: Add –er to form comparative and “-est” to form superlative:

Adjective Comparative Superlative

Long – largo Longer The longest
Short – corto/bajo Shorter The shortest
Old – viejo The oldest
Young – joven
High – alto
Low – bajo
Cheap - barato
Fast - rápido
Slow – lento
Wide – ancho
Narrow – estrecho
Strong – fuerte
Weak – débil
Great – grande
Calm – tranquilo
Hard – duro/difícil
Soft – blando (también el
opuesto de ‘loud’)
Loud – fuerte (ruido)
Cold – frío
Clean – limpio
Smart – listo
Stupid - estúpido
2 n d GR O UP : I f th e adjective ends in ‘e’, only add ‘r’ for the comparative and 'st' for the superlative.

Adjective Comparative Superlative

Nice – amable Nicer The nicest
Late – tarde
Rare – raro/poco común

3th . Gr o u p : So m e adjectivesthat end in consonant, doubble the final consonant to form the
comparative and the superlative:

Adjective Comparative Superlative

Fat – gordo Fatter The fattest
Thin – delgado
Hot – caliente
Big – grande
Wet – mojado
Sad – triste

4th . GR O UP : When the adjective ends in ‘y’, change ‘y’ for ‘i’ and add ‘er’ to form the comparative
and 'est' to form the superlative:

Adjective Comparative Superlative

Sunny – soleado Sunnier The sunniest
Happy – feliz Happier The happiest
Funny – gracioso
Pretty – bonito
Tasty – sabroso
Dusty – empolvado
Dirty – sucio
Heavy – pesado
Rainy - lluvioso
Cloudy – nublado
Scary – miedoso
Early – temprano
Dry – seco
Hungry – hambriento
Thirsty – sediento

5TH. GROUP: These adjectives use ‘more’ and ‘most’. In general these adjectives have more then 2
syllables or they end in ‘ful’, ‘ing’, ‘ous’, ‘ive’, ‘ish’, ‘al’, ‘able’ y ‘ed’.
Adjective Comparative Superlative
Beautiful – bonito More beautiful The most beautiful
Careful – cuidadoso More careful The most careful
Interesting – interesante
Boring – aburrido
Ridiculous – ridículo
Childish – infantil
Selfish – egoísta
Delicious – delicioso
Exciting – emocionante
Complicated – complicado
Intuitive – intuitivo
Informative – informativo
Compulsive – compulsivo
Obsessive – obsesivo
Creative – creativo
Selective – selectivo
Pensive – pensativo
Comfortable – cómodo
Tolerable – soportable
Bearable – aguantable
Economical – económico
Expensive – costoso
Conservative – conservador
Liberal – liberal
Suspicious – sospechoso
Gracious – amable
Generous – generoso
Impressive – impresionante
Painful – doloroso
Joyful – alegre
Sinful – pecador
Grateful – agradecido
Thankful – agradecido
Protected – protegido
Scared – asustado
Frightened – asustado
Reserved – reservado
Satisfied - satisfecho

6. The irregular adjectives have comparative and superlative forms that are completely different:

Adjetivo Comparativo Superlativo

Good – bueno Better The best
Bad - malo Worse The worst
A lot – mucho More The most
Little - poco less The least
Far -Lejos Further / farther The farthest

Use the adjective, the comparative and the superlative forms in sentences. For example:

This store is good - Esta tienda es buena

That one is better – Esa es mejor
The third store is the best – La tercera tienda es la mejor

This book is bad – Este libro es malo

That one is worse – Ese es peor
However, the other book is the worst – Sin embargo, el otro libro es el peor

Rita is beautiful – Rita es Hermosa.

Paula is more beautiful than Rita. – Paula es más hermosa que Rita.
However Susan is the most bautiful girl in the school. – Sin embargo, Susan es la niña más hermosa de
la escuela.