A

Degrees of D
Comparison es J
c ti v
A dje E
iv e
p a ra t C
o m
C T
Sup
erla I
ti ve A
dje
ctiv
V
es E
S
 COMPARATIVES

• Used to compare two things/animals/people/buildings etc

• +r / +er
- For adjectives with one syllable that ends with an ‘e’ just add
“r” at the end.
i.e.
large = larger
- For one – syllable adjectives that ends with a ‘consonant’ just
add “+er” at the end.
i.e.
great = greater
- Adjectives ending in short consonants (d and g) double the
last letter and add ‘er’
i.e.
big = bigger
sad = sadder
 COMPARATIVES

• “y” to “i”
• For adjectives that end with a “y”, remove “y” change it to “i” and add
“er” at the end.
i.e.
happy = happier

• More
• For adjectives with more than 2 syllables, add “more” before the
adjective
i.e.
dangerous = more dangerous

• Sentence pattern:
• Noun + comparative adjective + than + noun
PRACTICE!!!
PRACTICE!!!
PRACTICE!!!
 SUPERLATIVES

• Used to describe nouns that are at the highest or lowest quality

• Used in sentences to compare one noun to a group.

• +st / +est
- For adjectives with one syllables that ends with an ‘e’ just add
“st” at the end.
i.e.
large = largest
- For one – syllable adjectives that ends with a ‘consonant’ just
add “+est” at the end.
i.e.
great = greatest
- Adjectives ending in short consonants (d and g) double the
last letter and add ‘est’
i.e.
big = biggest
sad = saddest
 SUPERLATIVES

• “y” to “iest”
• For adjectives that end with a “y”, remove “y” change it to “i” and add
“est” at the end.
i.e.
happy = happiest

• Most
• For adjectives with more than 2 syllables, add “most” before the
adjective
i.e.
dangerous = most dangerous

• Sentence pattern:
• Noun + be-verb + the + superlative adjective
PRACTICE!!!
 IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES

Adjective comparative superlative Use

good better best  

bad worse worst  

much more most uncountable nouns

many more most countable nouns

little less least  

little smaller smallest  

 SPECIAL ADJECTIVES

• Some adjectives have possible forms of comparison

positive comparative superlative
clever cleverer / more clever cleverest / most clever

common commoner / more common commonest / most common

likely likelier / more likely likeliest / most likely

pleasant pleasanter / more pleasant pleasantest / most pleasant

polite politer / more polite politest / most polite

quiet quieter / more quiet quietest / most quiet
simple simpler / more simple simplest / most simple
stupid stupider / more stupid stupidest / most stupid
subtle subtler / more subtle subtlest / most subtle
sure surer / more sure surest / most sure
 NON-COMPARABLE ADJECTIVES
• Some adjectives cannot be used in comparative or superlative form. They show no
greater or lesser difference.
• Adjectives like
• Materials
• Metal
• Iron
• Wood
• Extreme adjectives
• Freezing
• Furious
• Starving
• Exhausted

• Note: these are just examples, you can find a complete list here:
https://simple.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Non-comparable_adjectives