LoginComparative and Superlative Adverbs
Understand how to make and use comparative and superlative adverbs, like "more carefully" and "most carefully" with examples and exercises.
What Are Comparative and Superlative Adverbs?
Adverbs, like adjectives, can have comparative and superlative forms.
Comparative adverbs are used to compare the degree or intensity of an action or state between two things. Superlative adverbs, on the other hand, are used to compare the degree or intensity of an action or state among three or more things, expressing the highest or lowest degree.
Which Adverbs Can Have Comparative Forms?
Not all adverbs have comparative and superlative forms. Only gradable adverbs, which denote a quality that can have different degrees of intensity, can be used in a comparative or superlative degree. For example, 'slowly' is a gradable adverb, as one can walk slowly, very slowly, or extremely slowly.
However, some adverbs like 'really', 'completely', and 'totally' are non-gradable adverbs. They do not denote a quality that can have different degrees of intensity, and therefore cannot be used to make comparisons.
Similarly, many adverbs of time and place, such as now, today, here, somewhere, etc. cannot be used comparatively since they refer to a specific moment or place which does not show a degree or intensity.
Adverbs: Degrees of Comparison
Some adverbs can be used in three different degrees of comparison:
the positive degree
the comparative degree
the superlative degree
Positive Degree
The positive degree is the base form of an adverb, which denotes a quality or action without making any comparison. For example:
slowly
naturally
gradually
well
fast
hard
often
He drives slowly.
She sings well.
Comparative Degree
The comparative degree of an adverb is used to compare the degree or intensity of one action or state to another, expressing a higher or lower degree of the adverb. Let's see how they are formed:
Comparative: One-syllable Adverbs
When the adverb has only one syllable, the suffix -er is added to make it comparative. For example:
fast → faster
hard → harder
late → later
low → lower
near → nearer
high → higher
The bird flew higher than the plane.
He hit the ball harder than me.
Comparative: Two-syllable Adverbs
If the adverb has two or more syllables, the adverb 'more' is added before it to make it comparative. For example:
carefully → more carefully
happily → more happily
sadly → more sadly
slowly → more slowly
quickly → more quickly
beautifully → more beautifully
He runs more quickly than his friend.
She drove more carefully than me.
You can also use the adverb 'less' before the adverb to suggest a lower degree of the action or state. For example:
sadly → less sadly
slowly → less slowly
quickly → less quickly
Comparative: Irregular Adverbs
Some adverbs have irregular comparative forms, which means their form completely changes when forming comparative adverbs. For example:
well → better
badly → worse
little → less
much → more
far → further/farther
She sings better than him.
He draws worse than me.
Comparative Adverbs: Informal Forms
In informal contexts, native speakers may sometimes drop the '-ly' from adverbs, including their comparative forms. However, this is considered nonstandard. It is recommended to use the standard form of the adverb, especially in formal situations.
Standard/correct | Nonstandard/incorrect |
|---|---|
loudly/more loudly | loud/louder |
quickly/more quickly | quick/quicker |
slowly/more slowly | slow/slower |
Could you speak more loudly?
Could you speak a little louder?
Comparative Degree: Using 'than'
When comparing two persons or things, 'than' is used to introduce the second side of the comparison.
He studied much harder than me and got a better score.
However, in formal English, you can also use a subject pronoun with an auxiliary or modal verb after 'than' instead of an object pronoun. For example:
He studied much harder than I did and got a better score.
Comparative Degree: Using 'as … as'
The structure [as + adverb + as] is used to express that two actions or states are equal in degree or intensity. For example:
I work as hard as any other student in my class.
Shyla cannot sing as beautifully as her sister.
Superlative Degree
The superlative degree of an adverb is used to compare the degree or intensity of one action or state to all others in the same category, expressing the highest or lowest degree of the adverb. Let's see how these adverbs are formed.
Superlative: One-syllable Adverbs
When the adverb has only one syllable, the article 'the' and the suffix '-est' are added to make it superlative. For example:
fast → the fastest
hard → the hardest
late → the latest
low → the lowest
near → the nearest
high → the highest
My kite flew the highest.
He punched the bag the hardest.
Superlative: Two-syllable Adverbs
If the adverb has two or more syllables, the article 'the' and the adverb 'most' are added before the adverb to make it superlative. For example:
carefully → the most carefully
happily → the most happily
sadly → the most sadly
slowly → the most slowly
quickly → the most quickly
beautifully → the most beautifully
He ran the most quickly in the race.
She sang the most beautifully out of all the choir members.
You can also use the adverb 'least' before the adverb to suggest a minimal degree of the action or state. For example:
sadly → the least sadly
slowly → the least slowly
quickly → the least quickly
Superlative: Irregular Adverbs
Some adverbs have irregular superlative degree forms:
well → the best
badly → the worst
little → the least
far → the furthest/the farthest
He cares the least about money.
I threw the pebble the farthest.
Double Comparative/Superlative
It is important to avoid making the mistake of using a double comparative or superlative. This error is more common with comparative and superlative adjectives, but can also occur with adverbs. Here's an example:
He was running the most fastest out of all the racers.
Here you can see a double superlative. 'Hardest' is the superlative form of 'hard.' So, 'most' cannot be used at the same time.
Review
Gradable adverbs have three degrees: the positive degree which is the normal form of the adverb, the comparative degree which shows the intensity of an action or state compared to another, and the superlative degree which shows an action has the highest intensity compared to three or more other similar actions.
The form of comparative and superlative adverbs depends on the form of their positive degree:
one-syllable adverbs take '-er' for comparative and '-est' for superlative degree
two-syllable adverbs take 'more' for comparative and 'the most' for superlative degree
irregular adverbs have special forms that do not follow a specific pattern
Quiz:
Which of the following sentences uses the superlative form of an adverb correctly?
She sings the more beautifully in the group.
They arrived latest than we did.
He speaks the most clearly out of us.
He runs most quickly than his older brother.
Which option uses an irregular comparative form?
He runs faster than the rest.
She danced better than her sister.
They arrived later than we did.
He worked harder than usual.
Sort the words to form a correct sentence.
Match each incomplete sentence with the correct ending.
Fill the blanks with the correct comparative or superlative forms of the adverbs in parentheses.
He shouted
than usual to get their attention. (loudly)
He reacted
than I expected when he heard the news. (badly)
My cat jumped
than the dog. (high)
She sings
than anyone else in the choir. (well)
I worked
of all team members on the task. (carefully)
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