9. Comparison of adjectives

A. There are three degrees of comparison:

Positive Comparative Superlative

dark darker darkest

useful more useful most useful

B. Form

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

Adjectives ending in e add r and st:

brave braver bravest

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

fat fatter fattest

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

interesting more interesting most interesting

beautiful more beautiful most beautiful

3. Adjectives of two syllables follow one or other of the above rules. Those ending in ful or re usually take more and most:

doubtful more doubtful most doubtful

obscure more obscure most obscure

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

clever cleverer cleverest

pretty prettier prettiest ( note that the y becomes i)

silly sillier 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.

common commoner/more common commonest/most common

gentle gentler/more gentle gentlest/most gentle

hollow hollower/more hollow hollowest/most hollow

5. Irregular comparison:

bad worse worst

far farther farthest (of distance only)

further furthest (used more widely)

good better best

little less least

many/much more most

old elder eldest (of people only)

older oldest (of people and things)

farther and further

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

London is farther/further than Paris.

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

College of Further Education.

Finally, they reached the furthest point in the dicussion.

elder, eldest; older, oldest

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

Note the difference between elder and eldest.

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:

My elder brother is two years older than I am.

C. 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):

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.)

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.

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.

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.

It’s the best book I’ve ever read.

D. 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:

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.

Compare: 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’.

much less time (or far less time) far less mistakes far fewer mistakes

2. To express the continuing change, we can use ‘double comparative’:

Your English is improving. It’s getting better and better. These days more and more people are learning English. She is becoming more and more nervous.

3. the......the......(with two comparatives) to say that two changes happen together.

The warmer the weather, the better I feel. The more dangerous it is, the more I like it. The more expensive the hotel (is), the better the service (is).

Note the structure the+comparative the better:

Do you like high speed? Yes. The faster the better.

What size box do you want? The bigger the better.

4. as.......as......

a) When we say that two things are the same in some way, we can use as....as.... with an adjective:

It’s as cold as ice. She’s as bad-tempered as her mother.

In negative comparisons, we can use not as.....as..... or not so.....as...... Both are correct in modern English.

She is not so nice as her sister. (or She is not as nice as her sister).

b) With a noun we use as much.....as..... or as many.....as.....to talk about quantity:

I haven’t got as much money as I thought. They need as many tests as possible.

c) Twice, three times, etc. can be used with as.....as.....; so can half, a quarter etc.

Their house is about twice as big as ours. You are not half as clever as you think you are.

d) We say the same as (not ‘the same like’)

Tom is the same age as George. ‘What would you like to drink?’ ‘I’ll have the same as last time’.

e) like+noun and as+noun

He worked like a slave. (very hard indeed) He worked as a slave. (He was a slave.)

She used her umbrella as a weapon. (She struck him with it.)