Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives are used to compare one noun with another noun. Superlative adjectives are used to compare three or more nouns.

What Are Comparative and Superlative Adjectives?

Comparative and superlative adjectives are forms of adjectives that are used to compare the degree or level of a quality or characteristic between two or more nouns or pronouns. Comparative adjectives are used to compare two nouns or pronouns, indicating that one has a higher or lower degree or level of quality than the other. Superlative adjectives, on the other hand, are used to compare more than two nouns or pronouns, indicating that one has the highest or lowest degree or level of quality.

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives: Types

Based on how the comparative and superlative forms of an adjective are formed, we can categorize them into three groups:

Type I: monosyllable adjectives
Type II: multisyllable adjectives
Type III: irregular adjectives

Type I: Monosyllable Adjectives

Type I adjectives have only one syllable. Such as hot, big, tall, short, etc.

Type I: Comparative Adjectives

Monosyllabic adjectives can be made into comparative adjectives by adding the suffix '-er' to the adjective. Comparative adjectives are used to compare two nouns or pronouns, indicating that one has a higher or lower degree or level of a quality than the other. For example:

hot → hotter

large → larger

tall → taller

dry → drier

Spelling Rules for Comparative Adjectives

As you can see in the examples above, the spelling of some adjectives changes when forming a comparative adjective. Here are some of the rules governing the spelling of comparative adjectives:

If the adjective ends in '-e', only add '-r'.

large → larger

nice → nicer

pale → paler

If the adjective ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant, double the final consonant and add '-er.'

big → bigger

wet → wetter

mad → madder

If the adjective ends in a consonant + '-y', change '-y' to '-i', then add '-er.'

dry → drier

sly → slier

Exceptions

There are some exceptions to these rules. For example, some monosyllable adjectives end in '-y' but do not change their '-y' to '-i' to form comparatives:

shy → shyer

Type I: Superlative Adjectives

'taller' is the comparative form of the adjective 'tall'

A superlative adjective compares one thing/person/place to all the others in the same group. We can form a superlative by adding the suffix '-est' to the end of the monosyllable adjective and 'the' before the adjective. Pay attention to the examples:

tall → the tallest

large → the largest

dry → the driest

Spelling Rules for Superlative Adjectives

As you can see in the examples above, the spelling of some adjectives changes when forming superlative adjectives. Here are some of the rules governing these changes:

If the adjective ends in '-e', add '-st'.

large → the largest

nice → the nicest

pale → the palest

If the adjective ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant, double the final consonant and add '-est'.

big → the biggest

wet → the wettest

mad → the maddest

If the adjective ends with a consonant + -y, change -y to -i, then add -est.

dry → the driest

sly → the sliest

Type II: Multisyllable Adjectives

Type II adjectives have more than one syllable. We can divide type II adjectives into two groups:

multisyllable adjectives
multisyllable adjectives ending in -y

Type II: Comparative Adjectives

When we have a multisyllable adjective, we can form its corresponding comparative adjective by using the determiner 'more' before the adjective

beautiful → more beautiful

difficult → more difficult

wonderful → more wonderful

For multi-syllable adjectives ending in -y, we can form the comparative adjective by changing -y to -i, and then adding the suffix '-er'. For example:

easy → easier

funny → funnier

pretty → prettier

Using 'Less'

When comparing two things using a multi-syllable adjective, we use the word 'less' to modify a noun as having a lower amount of quality. For example:

These flowers are less expensive than I had expected.

I'm searching for a less demanding career.

Type II: Superlative Adjectives

When we have a multi-syllable adjective, we can form its corresponding superlative adjective by using the determiner 'most' in the structure 'the + most + adj.'. Pay attention to the examples:

beautiful → the most beautiful

difficult → the most difficult

wonderful → the most wonderful

For multi-syllable adjectives ending in -y, we can form the superlative adjective by changing -y to -i, and then adding the suffix -est.

easy → the easiest

funny → the funniest

pretty → the prettiest

Using 'The Least'

When we have a multi-syllable adjective, we use 'the least' to modify a noun as having the lowest level of a quality. For example:

She is my least favorite person in the world.

I am looking for the least expensive house in the area.

Type III: Irregular Adjectives

Irregular adjectives do not follow the rules we discussed so far. You have to memorize their comparative and superlative forms.
In the table below, you can see some of the common irregular adjectives in English :

	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	the best
bad	worse	the worst
well	better	the best
far (extent)	further	the furthest
far (distance)	farther	the farthest
many	more	the most
much	more	the most
little (amount)	less	the least

The Preposition 'Than'

'Than' is a preposition that is used to introduce the second part of a comparison.

Ben is taller than Adam.

Lisa is prettier than Megan.

The first question is more difficult than the second one.

Uses

Other than comparison, we can use comparative adjectives to:

show how something or someone changes

We can use two comparatives with 'and' to demonstrate how something or someone is changing. For example:

The percentage got smaller and smaller.

Everything is getting more and more expensive.

indicate dependency of one thing on another

We can use comparative adjectives with 'the' to indicate that one thing depends on another. Look at the examples:

The older he grows, the wiser he becomes.

The darker the berry, the juicier it is.

Review

To make comparisons between people or things, we have no choice but to use comparative and superlative adjectives. There are three types of each which were discussed in detail throughout the article.

	type 1	type 2	type 3
comparative	My husband is taller than his brother.	My mother is more beautiful than hers.	The yellow dress is better than the blue one.
superlative	My husband is the tallest in their office.	My mother is the most beautiful woman in the world.	This is the best wedding dress.

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