Level: beginner
Comparative adjectives
We use comparative adjectives to show change or make comparisons:
This car is certainly better, but it's much more expensive.
I'm feeling happier now.
We need a bigger garden.
We use than when we want to compare one thing with another:
She is two years older than me.
New York is much bigger than Boston.
He is a better player than Ronaldo.
France is a bigger country than Britain.
When we want to describe how something or someone changes we can use two comparatives with and:
The balloon got bigger and bigger.
Everything is getting more and more expensive.
Grandfather is looking older and older.
We often use the with comparative adjectives to show that one thing depends on another:
The faster you drive, the more dangerous it is.
(= When you drive faster, it is more dangerous.)The higher they climbed, the colder it got.
(= When they climbed higher, it got colder.)
- Comparative adjectives 1
- Comparative adjectives 2
Superlative adjectives
We use the with superlative adjectives:
It was the happiest day of my life.
Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
That’s the best film I have seen this year.
I have three sisters: Jan is the oldest and Angela is the youngest.
- Superlative adjectives 1
- Superlative adjectives 2
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How to form comparative and superlative adjectives
We usually add –er and –est to one-syllable words to make comparatives and superlatives:
| old | older | oldest |
| long | longer | longest |
If an adjective ends in –e, we add –r or –st:
| nice | nicer | nicest |
| large | larger | largest |
If an adjective ends in a vowel and a consonant, we double the consonant:
| big | bigger | biggest |
| fat | fatter | fattest |
If an adjective ends in a consonant and –y, we change –y to –i and add –er or –est:
| happy | happier | happiest |
| silly | sillier | silliest |
We use more and most to make comparatives and superlatives for most two syllable adjectives and for all adjectives with three or more syllables:
| careful | more careful | most careful |
| interesting | more interesting | most interesting |
However, with these common two-syllable adjectives, you can either add –er/–r and –est/–st or use more and most:
| common cruel gentle handsome likely |
narrow pleasant polite simple stupid |
He is certainly handsomer than his brother.
His brother is handsome, but he is more handsome.
She is one of the politest people I have ever met.
She is the most polite person I have ever met.
The adjectives good, bad and far have irregular comparatives and superlatives:
| good | better | best |
| bad | worse | worst |
| far | farther/further | farthest/furthest |
- How to form comparative and superlative adjectives
If we learnt that adjectives ending in a CVC pattern must be doubled the last consonant and then added with -er, why isn't "slowwer" or "newwer" correct?
Hi thatha.,
It's because although these adjectives end in "w" (a consonant), the "w" is actually part of the vowel sound ("ow" in "slow", and "ew" in "new").
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello!
I am trying to figure out why, in an English sentence, if there are multiple adjectives used for one noun, and one of those adjectives is superlative, it seems that all of them must be superlative.
For example, my student wrote the following: I bought the three large freshest looking cabbages to make Korean Kimchi.
I couldn't explain why that was incorrect, I just knew that I would say 'three of the largest, freshest-looking cabbages...'.
Could one of you provide an explanation?
Thanks in advance!
Hi m4400,
I'm not sure if there's a grammatical explanation for this! It might be more about the conventional ideas that we tend to express. The student is saying that there were only three large cabbages in the shop, and they were also the freshest-looking ones, but this might be a bit unclear for listeners/readers to understand and your suggestion sounds clearer and more natural.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Good day, dear experts!
Please, help me to understand why there is "elder" in the name of the game "The Elder Scrolls" when we know that the comparative of "old" is "older". Is there a mistake in this name?
Thank you in advance!
Hello Iryna_hn,
I don't know much about this game, but I suspect 'elder' refers to an important or respected person in a group rather than being a comparative form of 'old'. Have a look at the Longman entry for 'elder' and scroll down to line 2 of the second meaning and you'll see what I mean.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello! Can I ask you a question? So, I know that we can use the definite article with comparative adjectives for showing that one thing depends on another as it's written in this website too. But, what about this sentence "the farther side of the mountain"? What's the explanation for it since there are no things depending one another in that sentence? Maybe when we have an implied comparison we can use the definite article too?
Thank you in advance. :)
Hello leo15722,
I don't think this is a question of two things being related in the way described above. I think this is simply an identified and specific item. Just as we would say 'the side of the mountain' (we know which side of which mountain we are talking about), so we say 'the farther side of the mountain'. You could use other articles if you conceive other contexts:
a farther side of the mountain > we know which mountain; it has several farther sides and we are talking about one of them but not saying which one. For example: "This side looks easy to climb. Now I don't know the mountain well, but I've heard that there's a farther side of the mountain which is harder to climb."
the farther side of a mountain > we are imagining that there are only two sides (rather like we say 'the dark side of the moon') and are talking about any mountain. For example: "The farther side of a mountain is always tempting to a mountaineer."
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello!
Could you please clarify the following:
Should we always use "the" with superlatives forms? Is it a mistake to say "She is most beautiful woman in this city", "He is smartest boy in the class?" or "They bought most delicious cake"?
I'm very very grateful for the work you are doing, thank you for your important help, and thank you for answering this post beforehand!!!
Hello howtosay_
Yes, you should always use 'the' with superlative forms. It is definitely necessary when there is a phrase like 'in this city', 'in the class', 'in the world, etc.
Your sentence about cake isn't actually a superlative construction. Instead, 'most' means 'very'.
It's also possible to see a sentence like 'They bought the most delicious cake'. There might be some rare exceptions, but normally a sentence like this is superlative because of the context. For example, perhaps in the previous sentences they were talking about all the different cakes in a bakery. So even though the sentence doesn't explicitly mention the other cakes, it's clear from context that there are many cakes.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello, Kirk!
Yes, it does help. I haven't known before that "most" also means "very".
Thank you very much indeed for your precious help!!!
Hello. Good morning sir/ma'am. This question has been bugging me lately.. Which one is correct? 1.he's the cleverest of *all the other* students.
2.he's the cleverest of *the other students*
Or are they both correct??
Hello AydaChan2003,
They're both OK, though I think people would probably say 1 more often than 2.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, Kirk
Thanks a lot!! You're a life saver
Hello AydaChan2003,
Both are grammatically correct and any difference would depend on the context in which they are used.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sir!
Could you please elaborate on what types of context? Also I have a vocabulary question.. I'm fairly new here and I don't know whether there's a separate page for asking vocabulary questions; is there really one? If there's not, then I might as well ask it here (sorry I know this isn't related to the subject but I got to know this) what's the difference between deadly, lethal, and fatal?
Hello AydaChan2003,
It's really a question of emphasis. 'All' adds rhetorical emphasis so if you want to make your statement stronger (e.g. when making a speech or trying to persuade someone of something) then it might be useful.
The main difference in the words is that fatal means someone died. Deadly and lethal can also describe potential - in other words they can also describe something is extremely dangerous. Thus, I could say 'It was a truly deadly situation and I was lucky to escape alive' but I could not use the word 'fatal' there.
There are some other differences in use, so you can talk about a deadly/lethal poison, for example, or use the words metaphorically to mean that someone is very good at performing a task: a footballer can be lethal in front of goal, or a lawyer can be deadly during cross-examination.
For differences like this, which are really about use rather than meaning, the best thing is to look each word up in an online dictionary, where you'll be able to compare the different entries.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sir! Oh my God that was the BEST explanation I've ever seen; thanks a lot!!! I had looked up their differences before but still couldn't distinguish each separately but now with your awesome explanation, I can! Once again, thanks a lot! May God bless you 🙏
Hi Jonathan
Fewer and smaller are comparative (forms)of inferiority ,aren't they?
Hi cooler48,
Yes, right!
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Team .
The sentences
He can run faster than me .
or He can run faster than I .
Which is the correct usage?
I can run faster than he or
I can run faster than him .
Which is the correct usage?
Kindly guide. Thanks.
Hello paddyjosy,
The standard use is 'me' and 'him'. After 'than' we use an object pronoun not a subject pronoun.
You may find some instances where some users prefer 'I' as they interpret the sentence to be 'He can run faster than I can run', but this is very much a minority view.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you Peter .
Hello paddyjosy,
(than) actually considered as a proposition in modern English. As a result, we use after than a pronoun in object form (for example: me, you, him, her, us, them, and whom)
Hi .
This is regarding the use of the adjective' late 'in the comparative and superlative degrees.
Some sources have mentioned it as later and latest (time)or latter and last (position).
Can u kindly explain it with example sentences.
Thanks.
Hello paddyjosy,
'Later' refers to time. It is often used as an adverb: See you later!
When used as an adjective it is the opposite of 'earlier': Do you want to go to the earlier performance or the later one?
'Latest' means the most recent: Have you heard the latest news? / I just bought her latest novel. It's great!
As you say, 'latter' is most often used to refer to the second item when two are mentioned. Its opposite is 'former': Would you prefer tea or coffee? > The latter, please.
'Latter' can also refer to the something occurring nearer to the end of something than the beginning: The latter part of the century was more stable / In his latter years he suffered from heart disease.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks a lot Peter.
It was helpful.
But is there a comparative and superlative degree for the adjective 'late'?
Hello again paddyjosy,
The comparative and superlative forms of 'late' are later and latest.
'Latter' does not have comparative or superlative forms. There is an adverb (latterly) which is a formal synonym for recently.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks once again for the prompt reply Peter.
It's really confusing though that 'later' means afterwards and 'latest' means the most recent ,hence a change in meaning all together.
Hello Peter
Is this usage correct ?
No other programme is as late as ours.
Our performance is later than all other programmes .
Other programmes are the latest.
Hello paddyjosy,
Yes, the use of the different forms of 'late' are all correct in these sentences. I might suggest 'The latest programmes are other ones' for the last sentence because 'latest' meaning 'most recent' is more common than the meaning that refers to time, but your sentence would be fine in context and in any case is grammatically correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks for the explanation.Indeed a wonderful resoirce for grammar . Keep up.the good work.
*resource
Hello. In this sentence
"Lisa is the........of the two sisters" the choices were "1.young 2.more young 3.as young as 4.younger" So I believe there's no correct answer of them because that's a superlative case not comparative as the "two sisters" is the whole group therefore "Lisa" isn't compared with the other sister but preferred over the whole group "the other sister" and the usage of "the" before the adjective and "of" after it means it's superlative and a colleague of mine think it's just comparative because they are only "two sisters" so my question is "Is it acceptable to use the preposition 'of' after the comparative form of adjective?". Thanks in advance.
Hi Roman...
Yes, you could say "Lisa is the youngest of the two sisters". However, it may be considered non-standard and incorrect. A more standard answer would be to say "Lisa is the younger of the two sisters". As there are only two sisters and one is compared with the other, it is a comparative case. Yes, it is fine to use "the + comparative adj. + of" if there are exactly two things being compared.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi. Could please explain me whether adjectives that already mean the quality in its highest degree can be used with comparative and superlative degrees? For example, excellent. The word excellent already means 'extremely good'. So can it be used with degrees of comparison? Can somthing be more excelllent, the most excellent? And there some other adjectives such as superb, gorgeous, wonderful etc. Thank you.
Hello tmaryna,
Yes, it's possible to use modifiers such as 'most' or 'absolutely' with many extreme adjectives such as 'excellent', and there are certainly many examples of this in speaking and writing. But I would recommend not doing this frequently in your writing or speaking, as too much use of these forms can give a poor impression and undermine your message.
You might find the explanation on our Adjectives – gradable and non-gradable page useful; it gives a few more examples.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Greetings, team!
I have a question about the use of the word "less" in comparatives for monosyllabic adjectives in certain contexts, for example:
--Now that the AC is on, the room feels less hot than before.
--I feel less happy nowadays than when I was a teenager.
Is it possible to express this, or should it be changed for a more 'accurate' means of expression?
Hello Aramis Soto,
Both of these sentences are fine. I'm not sure why, but I think most native speakers tend to negate the verb rather than use 'less' in statements such as these.
In other words, instead of these two sentences, I'd probably say 'the room isn't as hot as before' and 'I don't feel as happy nowadays as I did when I was a teenager'.
But there is absolutely nothing wrong with the two statements that you ask about.
I hope that answers your question, but if not, please ask again.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
I would to thank all amazing teacher here , they are doing a great work and fantastic job and if they allow me i have two question :
Q1 : can anyone explain to me in the word cleaner why we don’t double the letter n according to the grammar because it’s end with vowel and consonant letters .
Q2 :can we add more and most to single syllable adjectives?.
Hello g-ssan,
We're glad you find our site helpful!
Regarding your first question, you have to consider the last three letters of the adjective (in this case, 'ean'). If they are consonant, vowel, consonant, then we typically double the final consonant. But in the case of 'clean', we have vowel, vowel, consonant instead of consonant, vowel, consonant and therefore the correct spelling is 'cleaner'.
As for your second question, in general, no, we don't use 'more' or 'most' with one syllable adjectives. There are some exceptions to this (for example, we don't say 'funner', but rather 'more fun'), but people don't do this with most one-syllable adjectives; typically say 'more clean', 'more big', etc.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, I recently presented a MOC test for a certification, and in one of the Academic Readings, I found a paragraph that said:
The most, moist air there is, ……..
And I thought to my self : Is that possible?
Would it be : The warmer ?
Hope you can help me please, as I was looking for an answer in several books and dictionaries but I couldn’t find any reference for: warm, where said, it could be used with er / or more
Hello Gilly,
Are you asking what word should go in the gap? I'm afraid it's difficult for me to say without knowing a bit more. And is there really a comma between 'most' and 'moist'?
In any case, we usually say 'warmer' rather than 'more warm', but the latter isn't wrong.
I'm sorry I can't help you more with this, but I don't really understand what the task is here.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks a lot !
Regards from Mexico
Thank you for your good question.the answer is simply we double the last letter only with words that have one syllable with a short vowel in .such as thin fat big while clean has a long vowel.
Could someone please explain to me why worse is used here?
my cold is definitely worse this morning.
Hello jayashan_b,
I understand this to mean 'Compared to yesterday or last night, the symptoms of my cold are worse.' Perhaps the person is coughing more or their nose is more congested, for example. The word 'cold' is a noun here (illness).
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Sir
Could you please help me with these following examples ?Are both of them correct?
1.There house is no bigger than ours
2.There house is not bigger than ours
Another question-Can we use "far" instead of "a lot" with comparatives?Like instead of saying "I feel a lot better ", can we use this one "I feel far better "?
Hello Faii,
Please note that in both sentences 'There' is not correct -- it should be 'Their' -- but 'is no bigger' and 'is not bigger' are both correct. 'is no bigger' is another way of saying 'isn't any bigger' and suggests the two houses are roughly the same size. 2 just says their house is not bigger; it could mean they are the same size or that theirs is smaller.
Yes, you can also use 'far' with comparative adjectives to intensify the adjective. You can read about this and other intensifiers on the Intensifiers page, the next page in this section.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, Sir.
I was wondering what the differences between "the best" and "best" are.
1. Vegetables are best for your health.
2. Vegetables are the best for your health.
3. Vegetables are best food for your health.
4. Vegetables are the best food for your health.
I wanted to know if the 4 sentences are right. Is it possible to form the superlatives without "the"?
Thank you for your precious time.
Best Wishes!