Comparison of adjectives

There are three degrees of comparison:

Positive Comparative Superlative

dark darker darkest

useful more useful most useful

We use the comparative degree of adjectives when we compare two people, animals or things. Adjectives are usually followed by than.

e.g. I’ve read much more books than my friend.

We use the superlative degree of adjectives when we compare one person, animal or thing with several of the same kind. Adjectives always take the definite article the and are usually followed by the prepositions of or in.

e.g. It’s the highest building in the city. He is the tallest of my friend. She was the best singer.

Form:

1. One-syllable adjectives form their comparative and superlative by adding -er and -est to the positive form:

e.g. light lighter the lightest

Adjectives ending in -e and -r add -st:

e.g. brave braver the bravest

nice nicer the nicest

Adjectives with one vowel followed by one consonant double the final consonant:

e.g. fat fatter the fattest

However, do not double the consonant in words ending in –w or –y.

e.g. slow slower the slowest

coy coyer the coyest

2. Adjectives of three or more syllables form their comparative and superlative by putting more and most before the positive:

e.g. interesting more interesting the most interesting

beautiful more beautiful the most beautiful

3. Adjectives of two syllables follow one or other of the above rules. Some adjectives with two syllables are only used or are most commonly used with more / less and most / least, particularly participle adjectives (e.g. pleased, worried, boring) (see Participle Adjectives); adjectives ending in –ful, -less and –re (e.g. careful, careless, obscure); afraid, alike, alert, ashamed, alone, aware; and also cautious, certain, complex, confident, eager, exact, formal, frequent, modern, recent. Most other adjectives with two syllables can take either form.

Those ending in -ful or -re usually take more and most:

e.g. doubtful more doubtful the most doubtful

obscure more obscure the most obscure

Those ending in -er, -y or -ly usually add -er, -est:

e.g. clever cleverer the cleverest

pretty prettier the prettiest (note that y becomes i)

silly sillier the silliest

4. With a few two-syllable adjectives, both kinds of comparative and superlative are possible. These are: common, handsome, polite, quiet, wicked, pleasant, cruel, stupid, tired, and words ending in -ow and -le.

e.g. common commoner / more common commonest / most common

gentle gentler / more gentle gentlest / most gentle

hollow hollower / more hollow hollowest / most hollow

5. Irregular comparison:

Positive Form	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
bad	worse	the worst
good	better	the best
little	less	the least
old	elder	the eldest (of people only)
	older	the oldest (of people and things)
far	farther	the farthest (of distance only)
	further	the furthest (more widely)
many/much	more	the most

• farther and further

Both words are used to refer to distance, with no difference of meaning:

e.g. London is farther / further than Paris.

Further (but not farther) can also be used, mainly with abstract nouns, to mean ‘additional’, ‘extra’, ‘more advanced’.

e.g. College of Further Education.

Finally, they reached the furthest point in the discussion.

• elder, eldest; older, oldest

Elder and eldest are chiefly used for comparisons within a family.

Note the difference between elder and eldest.

e.g. My elder son is the older of my two sons; if I say my eldest son, I probably have at least three sons. If I say my elder sister, I only have one sister. But elder is not used with than, so older is necessary here:

e.g. My elder brother is two years older than I am.

Use of comparative and superlative

1. The comparative is used to compare things or people that are separate from each other. The superlative is used to compare one member of a group with the whole group (including that member):

e.g. Mary’s nicer than her three sisters.

Mary’s the nicest of the four sisters in the family.

In the first sentence, Mary is not one of the three sisters; we use the comparative. In the second sentence, Mary is one of the four girls that we are talking about; we use the superlative.

Note that after superlatives we use in with places (towns, buildings etc.)

e.g. What’s the longest river in the world?

We live in one of the nicest rooms in the hotel.

Also: in the class/in the team/in the family etc.

e.g. Tom is the best player in the team.

But: the happiest day of my life, the most pleasant season of the year

2. We sometimes use the comparative instead of the superlative to talk about a group that only has two members.

e.g. I like Betty and Maud, but I think Betty’s the nicer of the two.

I’ll give you the bigger steak: I’m not very hungry.

3. After the superlative we often use the present perfect tense.

e.g. It’s the best book I’ve ever read.

Further information about comparison of adjectives

1. Before the comparative you can use much, far, very much, a lot, any, no, rather, a bit, a little:

e.g. very much nicer, a lot happier, rather more expensive, a little less interesting, a bit easier, far more serious Is your mother any more relaxed?

Things are no better than before.

When more is followed by a plural noun, it can be modified by far or many, but not much.

e.g. many more opportunities (or far more)

much more money (or far more)

We say much less or far less, and far fewer, but not ‘many fewer’.

e.g. much less time (or far less time) far less mistakes far fewer mistakes

We use enough after adjectives.

e.g. The house was comfortable enough but not luxurious, (not ...enough comfortable...)

We are not in a strong enough financial position to cut taxes, (not ...an enough strong...)

Compare the position of enough in these sentences with adjective + noun:

I haven't got big enough nails for the job. (= the nails that I've got aren't big enough)

I haven't got enough big nails for the job. (= I've got some big nails, but not enough)