COMPARATIVE

AND
SUPERLATIVE
ADJECTIVES AND SENTENCES
Mª Jesús Pérez Robleda
Adjectives: outline
 One-syllable adjectives

 Irregular comparison

 Two-syllable adjectives finished in: - y

- ow
- le
- er
 Two-syllables adjectives: er/est or more/most.

 Three or more syllables adjectives.

 Hyphenated adjectives and compounds.

 More and most with short adjectives.

 Comparative and superlative adverbs.

One-syllable adjective
 Most adjectives:
*old –older –oldest
*tall -taller -tallest
 Adjectives ending in e:
*late -later -latest

 One vowel + one consonant: double consonant.

*fat -fatter -fattest
*thin -thinner thinnest
Irregular comparison
 Good better best
 Bad worse worst
 Ill worse
 Old older/elder oldest /oldest
 Far farther/further farthest/farthest
 Little less least
 Much

Many more most

 Few fewer fewest
less least
 Two-syllable adjectives finished in –
y, -ow, -le, -er.
 They normally take the –er and –est comparative
form, specially adjectives ending in unstressed
vowel:
*pretty -prettier -prettiest
*narrow -narrower -narrowest
*simple -simpler -simplest
*clever -cleverer -clevest
*quiet -quieter -quietest
Two-syllable adjectives
 Others, particularly participial adjectives
formed with -ing and -ed and those ending
in -ious and -ful form their comparatives and
superlatives with more and most:

*boring more boring most boring

*worried more worried most
worried
*anxious more anxious most
anxious
*careful more careful most careful
 Two-syllable adjectives
 With some two-syllable adjectives er/est and
more/most are both possible:

The commonest /most common alcoholic

drink in Poland is vodka.

He is more pleasant/pleasanter to talk to

when he has not been drinking.

 In general, the structure with more/most is becoming

more common. In case of doubts, check a good dictionary.
Three or more syllable adjectives
 Three or more syllable adjectives take more
or most in the comparative and superlative
except for two-syllable adjectives ending in -
y and prefixed with un-:
*reasonable more reasonable most reasonable
*beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
*unhealthy unhealthier unhealthiest
*untidy untidier untidiest
Hyphenated adjectives and
compounds

 Hyphenated adjectives, which are also known

compound adjectives, normally use more and
most for the comparative and superlative
forms:
You are more sun-tanned than I am.
 Some compounds adjectives have two

possibilities:
good looking better-looking best-looking
more good-looking
most good-looking
More and most with short adjectives
 More is normally used when a comparative is
not followed inmediately by than. Forms with
–er are also possible:
The road is getting more and more steep.
steeper and steeper.

 Most in formal style followed by adjectives

means “very”.
That is most kind of you.
Comparative and superlative
adverbs
 Most of them are made with more and most:
Could you talk more quietly?
 Adverbs with the same form of adjectives,

have comparatives and superlatives with –er

and –est. The most common are: fast, early,
late, hard, long, near, high, low, soon,well
(better, best),badly (worse, worst), etc…
Can’t you drive any faster?
Talk louder¡
Can you come earlier?
Comparative sentences
 More … than.
 Less ... Than.
 As … as/as much … as/as many … as.
 Half, twice, three times as … as.
 -er/more and –er/more.
 The –er/more , the –er/more.
Other ways of comparing
 A big difference:
◦ Much -er/more than Mucho más … que
◦ Far -er/more than De lejos más … que
◦ Nowhere near as… as Ni de cerca tan … como
◦ Considerably less than Considerablemente menos … que
◦ Not nearly as … as Ni con mucho tan … como
◦ A great deal -er/more than Muchísimo más … que
 A small difference
◦ Almost as + adject + as Casi tan … como
◦ Nearly as + adject + as ” “ “
◦ Slightly –er/ more adject than Ligeramente más … que
◦ Not quite as + adject + as No exactamente tan … como
◦ A bit/a little –er/more adject than Un poco más … que
 No difference
◦ Just as + adject + as Justo tan … como
◦ Not any –er/more adject than No es mucho más … que
◦ No –er/more adject than No es más … que
Superlative sentences
 -est/most ... in/of
*”In” with singular words referring to a place
or group. “Of” before plural and “lot”.

She is the fastest player in the team

She is the fastest player of them all – She is

the best of the lot