Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs

Types of Relationships Inequality John is taller than Bill. Superiority Fred is smarter than Alice. Inferiority PCs are less expensive than Macs. Equality He is just like his sister.

Examples Adjectives large larger largest The first apple is large. The second apple is larger than the first. The third apple is the largest of the three.

talltallertallest neatneaterneatest deepdeeperdeepest To form the comparative or superlative of one syllable words with more than one vowel OR ending with more than one consonant at the add -er OR -est.

widewiderwidest finefinerfinest cutecutercutest To form the comparative or superlative of a one syllable word ending in e add -r OR -st.

sadsaddersaddest bigbiggerbiggest fatfatterfattest To form the comparative or superlative of a one syllable word with one vowel and one consonant at the end double the consonant, and add -er OR - est.

happyhappierhappiest jollyjollierjolliest lazylazierlaziest To form the comparative or superlative of a two syllable word ending in y, change the y to i, then add -er OR -est.

yellowyelloweryellowest gentlegentlergentlest simplesimplersimplest To form the comparative or superlative of a two syllable word ending a vowel-sound that is not stressed then add -er OR -est. Adjectives ending in –le, -ow, er frequently take –er and –est.

Like adjectives some adverbs can take comparative and superlative forms, with -er and -est: Sally works hard. Steve works harder than Sally Kathy and Sue work the hardest of all.

The bird sings loudly. Laura sang louder than the bird. So Jin sang the loudest of them all. loudloud louderlouder loudestloudest

List of Adverbs in Which - er and -est May Be Added AdverbComparativeSuperlative fastfasterfastest slowslowerslowest quickquickerquickest earlyearlierearliest brightbrighterbrightest highhigherhighest

However, the majority of adverbs do not take these endings. Instead, they form the comparative using more and the superlative using most: AdverbComparativeSuperlative recentlymore recentlymost recently effectivelymore effectivelymost effectively frequentlymore frequentlymost frequently

Irregular Adverbs WordComparativeSuperlative badlyworseworst muchmoremost littlelessleast muchmoremost wellbetterbest

Irregular Adjectives WordComparativeSuperlative goodbetterbest badworseworst muchmoremost littlelessleast farfartherfarthest old older elder oldest eldest

Es mas rapido ir en taxi.  Is more fast to go in taxi. *For me is more easy to see what I am learning. Sei piu ̀ ricco di me. You’re more rich than me. *He is much more old than me. Comparatives (Spanish, Italian)

French superlatives are formed by adding Ia/le/les plus (“the most”) *I am the most short person of the class. *Friendship is a spontaneous growth, so I am convinced that the most strong friends are people that grow with us in our childhood. Superlatives (French, Portuguese)

Resources Adapted f: paper/Adjectives_and_Adverbs.s wf