LoginComparative and Superlative Adjectives For beginners
Here, you'll learn about comparative adjectives (e.g., "bigger") and superlative adjectives (e.g., "biggest"). Simple explanations and exercises to help you understand.
What Are Comparative and Superlative Adjectives?
Comparative and superlative adjectives are used to compare qualities of two or more things. Comparative adjectives are used to compare two things and superlative adjectives are used to compare three or more things.
Comparative Adjectives
Comparative adjectives are used to compare two things and show that one has a higher level or degree of quality than the other. For example:
This tea is colder than that one.
Miranda is taller than Lucy.
Than
To compare two things or persons, the preposition 'than' comes after the comparative adjective.
How to Make Comparative Adjectives?
For adjectives that have one syllable, '-er' is added to the end of the adjective to make it comparative. For example:
The man was nicer than the woman.
She was shorter than her big sister.
For adjectives that have more than one syllable, add 'more' before the adjective to make it comparative. For example:
This bag is more expensive than that bag.
This chair is more comfortable than my chair.
Superlative Adjectives
Superlative adjectives show the highest degree of a quality between three or more people or things.
How to Make Superlative Adjectives?
For one-syllable adjectives, simply add '-est' to the end of the adjective and put 'the' before it. For example:
This is the tallest building in the city.
She is the nicest person I know.
For adjectives that have more than one syllable, add 'the most' before them. For example:
This is the most expensive restaurant in town.
The princess was the most beautiful girl in the kingdom.
The table below shows some common English adjectives with their comparative and superlative forms:
Comparative | Superlative | |
|---|---|---|
fast | faster | the fastest |
nice | nicer | the nicest |
tall | taller | the tallest |
beautiful | more beautiful | the most beautiful |
comfortable | more comfortable | the most comfortable |
expensive | more expensive | the most expensive |
Irregular Adjectives
Some adjectives do not follow the typical rules for forming comparatives and superlatives. For example:
comparative | superlative | |
|---|---|---|
good | better | the best |
bad | worse | the worst |
Quiz:
Which sentence uses the correct comparative form?
This soup is more hot than that one.
This soup is hotest than that one.
This soup is more hotter than that one.
This soup is hotter than that one.
Choose the correct sentence that uses a superlative adjective:
This car is faster than that car.
This is the fastest car in the showroom.
This car is more fast than the other.
This car is most fast than the others.
Fill in the blanks to complete the story.
Yesterday, my family and I went hiking in the mountains. The path we chose was much
(hard) than the one we took last week, but the view at the top was amazing. It was the
(beautiful) scene I had ever seen. Later, we compared our backpacks. My backpack was
(light) than my brother’s, but his was
(comfortable). By the end of the day, we all agreed that it was one of the
(exciting) adventures we’d had together.
Complete the table with the missing forms of the adjectives.
| Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|
faster | |
the best | |
the most beautiful | |
worse | |
the nicest |
Sort the words to form a correct sentence.
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