ENGLISH FOR TEACHERS

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives (REVISION)

One-syllable adjectives.

Form the comparative and superlative forms of a one-syllable adjective by adding –er for the comparative form and –est for the superlative.

One-Syllable Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
Tall Old Short	taller (than) older shorter	(the) tallest (the) oldest (the) shortest

Examples:

• Mary is taller than Jane.
• Mary is the tallest of all the students.
• Mary is older than Jane.
• Of the three students, Max is the oldest.
• My hair is longer than your hair.
• Max’s story is the longest story I’ve ever heard.

If the one-syllable adjective ends with an e, just add –r for the comparative form and –st for the superlative form.

large larger largest

wise wiser wisest

• Mary's car is larger than Max's car.
• Mary's house is the tallest of all the houses on the block.
• Max is wiser than his brother.
• Max is the wisest person I know.

If the one-syllable adjective ends with a single consonant with a vowel before it, double the consonant and add –er for the comparative form; and double the consonant and add –est for the superlative form.

big bigger biggest

thin thinner thinnest

fat fatter fattest

• My dog is bigger than your dog.
• My dog is the biggest of all the dogs in the neighborhood.
• Max is thinner than John.
• Mary is the fattest person I've ever seen.

Two-syllable adjectives.

If the two-syllable adjectives ends with –y, change the y to i and add –er for the comparative form. For the superlative form change the y to i and add –est.

happy happier happiest

angry angrier angriest

busy busier busiest

• John is happier today than he was yesterday.
• John is the happiest boy in the world.
• Max is angrier than Mary.
• Mary is the busiest person I've ever met.

With most two-syllable adjectives, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most.

peaceful more peaceful most peaceful

pleasant more pleasant most pleasant

careful more careful most careful

thoughtful more thoughtful most thoughtful

• This morning is more peaceful than yesterday morning.
• Max's house in the mountains is the most peaceful in the world.
• Max is more careful than Mike.
• Of all the taxi drivers, Jack is the most careful.

Two-syllable adjectives ending in –er, -le, or –ow take –er and –est to form the comparative and superlative forms.

narrow narrower narrowest

gentle gentler gentlest

• The roads in this town are narrower than the roads in the city.
• This road is the narrowest of all the roads in California.
• Big dogs are gentler than small dogs.
• Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the gentlest.

Adjectives with three or more syllables.

For adjectives with three syllables or more, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most.

generous more generous most generous

important more important most important

intelligent more intelligent most intelligent

• Jean is more generous than Joan.
• Jean is the most generous of all the people I know.
• Health is more important than money.

• Of all the people I know, Mark is the most important.
• Women are more intelligent than men.
• Martha is the most intelligent person I've ever met.

*Exceptions. Irregular adjectives.

good better best

bad worse worst

far farther farthest

little less least

many more most

• Italian food is better than American food.
• My dog is the best dog in the world.
• My mother's cooking is worse than your mother's cooking.
• Of all the students in the class, Kevin is the worst.

MORE EXCEPTIONS
Two-syllable adjectives that follow two rules. These adjectives can be used with -er and -est and with more and most.

clever cleverer cleverest

clever more clever most clever

gentle gentler gentlest

gentle more gentle most gentle

friendly friendlier friendliest
friendly more friendly most friendly

quiet quieter quietest

quiet more quiet most quiet

simple simpler simplest

simple more simple most simple

• Big dogs are gentler than small dogs.
• Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the gentlest.
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