In this lesson, we will learn about comparisons in the English language.
The comparison of the adjectives has two forms called: the comparative and the superlative. Comparative means that something is more than something while superlative means it’s the most. We can divide comparatives and superlatives into one syllable, two syllables, three or more syllables and irregular. Let’s look at some one syllable comparatives and superlatives which end with -er for comparative and -est for superlative.
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
| Great
Old Big Simple Hard
|
Greater
Older Bigger Simpler Harder
|
Greatest
Oldest Biggest Simplest Hardest
|
Now let’s look at two syllable comparatives and superlatives which end with -ier for comparatives and -iest for superlatives.
| Easy
Happy Busy |
Easier
Happier Busier |
Easiest
Happiest Busiest
|
Three or more syllable comparatives and superlatives involve the words more for comparative and most for superlative.
| Expensive
Important Crucial |
More expensive
More important More crucial |
Most expensive
Most important Most crucial
|
There are also irregular comparatives and superlatives that don’t follow a specific formula.
| Good
Bad Much |
Better
Worse More |
Best
Worst Most
|
From these examples, we can conclude that there are some rules:
- We form the comparative by adding –er to the adjective, and the superlative by adding –est.
- For the adjectives ending by y, we change y to i and add er/
- For some adjectives like Big we double the last letter and add er/est.
- There are irregular adjectives whose comparatives and superlatives are different like “good”.
Let’s do some exercises with what we have learned already. Write the comparative and superlative versions for the following words.
Ugly, cheap, large, bright, dark, pretty, young, brave.