Comparatives
Adjectives are a group of words that are always used with nouns. They modify the noun adding information like the quality of the noun or other properties.
Examples:
A tall boy, a beautiful landscape, a dark night, a wooden table, etc.
There are important grammar rules we must follow:
1) THE ADJECTIVES GO BEFORE NOUNS.
2) ADJECTIVES DO NOT HAVE PLURAL FORMS
3) ADJECTIVES FOLLOW A SPECIFIC ORDER WHEN WE USE TWO OR MORE ADJECTIVES IN A SENTENCE.
We will pay special attention to four ‘families’ : opinion- size- age and colour.
However, we must know that if we find an adjective which is not of any of these families we should check with your teacher which order it must follow.
We use comparatives when we want to compare two things but if we want to compare more than two things we use the superlative form of the adjective. Look at the examples below.
The cow is faster than the elephant
The African buffalo is faster than the cow.
The African buffalo is the fastest.
African buffalo Cow Elephant
As you can see from the examples, when we form the comparative we need to use the particle THAN after the adjective. Equally, when we form the superlative we use the particle THE followed by the adjective.
Forming the comparative
There are two ways of forming the comparatives: adding –er to the adjective or using the determiner more and the adjective. In order to know which one to use you need to take into account the number of syllables of the adjective. These are the rules: Add –er to the adjective when it is one syllable long. Example: short- shorter; tall- taller.
TIP! When the adjective is one syllable and consonant, vowel, consonant you must double the last consonant. Example. Big- bigger. Add more + adjective when it is three or more syllables. Example: intelligent- more intelligent. Exceptions when the adjective is two syllables long: Use the short form ( –er) when the adjective ends with –y; -er; -le- ow .
Examples: Narrow-narrower; gentle- gentler; happyhappier
Use the long form (more …) with all the other adjectives.
Examples: solid- more solid; careful- more careful; etc.
Forming the superlativeForming the superlative
We use the same rules to form the superlative:
Add –est to the adjective when it is one syllable long. Example: short- shortest; tall- tallest.
Add most + adjective when it is three or more syllables. Example: intelligentmost intelligent.
Exceptions when the adjective is two syllables long:
Use the short form ( –est) when the adjective ends with –y; -er; -le- ow .
Examples: Narrow-narrowest; gentle- gentlest; happy- happiest
Use the long form (most …) with all the other adjectives.
Examples: solid- most solid; careful- most careful; etc.
IRREGULAR COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES
There are a few adjectives that do not follow the rules when forming the comparatives and superlatives. Study the table below.
ADJEC TIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
GOOD Better than The best BAD Worse than The worst FAR Farther than The farthest MUCH More than The most LITTLE Less than The least
EQUAL COMPARISON
When we use either comparatives or superlatives we express that something is superior to something else. In our examples the buffalo was faster than the elephant, so he is superior in terms of speed. However, there are times when we compare things and we want to express that something is equal to something. This type of comparison is called comparison of equality and it is formed as follows:
‘Something’+ is + as+ adjective + as ‘something else’.
Example: The butterfly is as beautiful as the ladybird.
