Comparatives, superlatives and equality

 

by Viv Quarry (www.vivquarry.com)

 

Look at these sentences:

 

Type 1

London is bigger than Manchester.

 

London is the biggest city in Britain.

 

Type2

London is more cosmopolitan than Manchester.

 

London is the most cosmopolitan city in Britain.

 

Words of ONE SYLLABLE are TYPE 1.

 

Words of THREE SYLLABLES OR MORE are TYPE 2.

 

Words of TWO SYLLABLES ending in '~ER', '~Y' or '~LE' are TYPE 1.

 

Adjective                    Comparative              Superlative

clever                           cleverer                        the cleverest

funny                           funnier*                         the funniest*

simple                          simpler                         the simplest

 

* Note how the 'Y' changes to 'I' when a suffix is added.

 

Words of TWO SYLLABLES ending in '~FUL' or '~ING' are TYPE 2.

 

Adjective                    Comparative              Superlative

careful                         more careful                the most careful

boring                          more boring                 the most boring

 

Some two syllable adjectives can be both types:

 

Adjective                    Comparative              Superlative

polite                           politer / more polite     the politest / the most polite

 

MOST TWO SYLLABLE WORDS ARE TYPE TWO, so if you're not sure, guess that the comparative and superlative are formed using MORE / THE MOST.

 

Irregular adjectives

 

Adjective                    Comparative              Superlative

good                            better                           the best

bad                              worse                           the worst

far (UK)                      further                         the furthest

far (USA)                    farther                         the farthest

 

a lot                             more                            the most

a little                          less                              the least

 

Note! We use 'fewer' and 'the fewest' with countable nouns e.g. There were fewer people than yesterday.

 

Thanks to Headway Intermediate 1st edition for help with these rules.

Next

Back to grammar worksheets

Home