Look at these examples to see how we use comparative adjectives.
The city is more interesting than the countryside.
This house is older than my house.
She's better at cooking now than before.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
We use comparative adjectives to compare two things or show change. The comparative form depends on the number of syllables in the adjective.
Adjectives with one syllable
To make comparative forms with one-syllable adjectives, we usually add -er:
old → older
clean → cleaner
slow → slower
If an adjective ends in -e, we add -r:
safe → safer
nice → nicer
If an adjective ends in a vowel and a consonant, we usually double the consonant:
big → bigger
hot → hotter
Adjectives with two or more syllables
If a two-syllable adjective ends in a consonant and -y, we change -y to -i and add -er:
noisy → noisier
happy → happier
easy → easier
We use more to make comparative forms for most other two-syllable adjectives and for all adjectives with three or more syllables:
crowded → more crowded
stressful → more stressful
dangerous → more dangerous
Exception: You can either add -er/-r or use more with some two-syllable adjectives, such as common, cruel, gentle, handsome, likely, narrow, pleasant, polite, simple and stupid.
I think life in the countryside is simpler than in the city.
It's more simple to live in the city because everything you need is there.
Irregular adjectives
The adjectives good, bad and far have irregular comparative forms:
good → better
bad → worse
far → further/farther
Than
When we want to say which person or thing we are comparing with, we can use than:
Their house is cleaner than ours.
Traffic is slower in the city than in the countryside.
After the race I was more tired than Anne.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
good
Just like this sentence 👇
I think life in the countryside is simpler than in the city.
It's more simple to live in the city because everything you need is there.
Is it right to say
She is more taller than you
Should it have been she is more tall than you.
Hello Joy1010,
The most natural option here is 'She is taller than you' rather than '...more tall than...' as 'tall' is a one-syllable adjective.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
This lesson helps me review the old knowledge I learned the day before. Thank you so much.
So, 2 syllable can use "-r/er" or use "more", right? Can I use "more" with happy or easy, like "I am more happy..." or "It is more easy..."?
I'm sorry if my english is not good enough. I'm still newbie.
Hello Fajar_Hilyan,
That's right. There are often clear preferences, so we tend to prefer cleverer and cleverest but more stupid and most stupid, for example. There's no rule for this; it's just a question of convention and common use.
Easier and happier are more common than more easy and more happy, but none of them are incorrect.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks a lot.
Hello,
May I know the difference between more of and more on?
Hello JemJem,
Can you provide a sample sentence with each phrase so we can see what context you have in mind? We'll be happy to explain but it's a lot clearer when we have concrete examples to deal with.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, sorry. Here you go.
Are my sentences correct?