There are three degrees of comparison of

adjectives.
1. The positive degree is used when simply
describing persons or things.
Examples:
The atis tree is tall.
Anita is young.
Chicos are expensive.
Carlo is intelligent.

2. The comparative degree is used when

comparing two person or things.
Examples:
The ipil-ipil tree is taller than the atis tree.
Josephine is younger than Anita.
Mangoes are more expensive than chicos.

Alex is more intelligent than Carlo.

Rule!
* The Comparative degree of adjectives with one
or two syllables is formed by adding er.
Examples: brighter, louder, nearer, narrower,
funnier
* The comparative degree of adjective with two
or more syllables is formed by adding more before
the adjective.
Examples: more obedient, more comforable, more
responsible, more studious, more industrious.
Note that the word than follows the comparative
form.
Examples:
Celia is prettier than Doris.
Water is more refreshing than juice.
3. The superlative degree is used when
comparing three or more persons or things.

Examples:
The acacia tree is the tallest of all them.
Irene is the youngest of them all.
Grapes are the most expensive of the three.
Eric is the most intelligent of the three.
Rule:
* The superlative degree of adjectives is formed
by adding est to the adjective.
Examples: longest, thinnest, loudest, highest,
darkest
* The superlative degree of adjective with two or
more syllables is formed by adding most before
the adjective.
Examples:
most courteous, most beautiful, most intelligent
The article the preceded the superlative form.
Example:

Dado runs the fastest.

Christy is the most responsible person in the class.
Degrees of comparison refers to adjectives being written in different forms to compare one,
two or more nouns which are words describing persons, places and things.
The three different forms of comparison are the positive, the comparative and the
superlative. The positive is the form of the adjective that describes one noun. The
comparative form of the adjective compares two nouns. The superlative form of the
adjective compares more than two nouns.
Most comparative forms of the adjective are formed by adding er to the positive form of
the adjective. Most superlative forms of the adjective are formed by adding est to the
positive form of the adjective.
The table below gives examples. The adjectives are in italics.
Mercury is a
large planet.

Earth is larger
than Mercury

Jupiter is the largest

planet of all.

Some adjectives change spelling in the comparative and superlative forms when er and est
are added respectively. If the adjective in the positive form ends in y, the y is changed to i
and the endings er or est are added in the comparative and superlative. With a common
adjective such as big, the final g is doubled in the comparative and superlative forms before
the er and est are added.
The table below gives examples. The adjectives are in italics.
Comparati
Superlative
ve
Big
Bigger
Biggest
dolphin
dolphin
dolphin

Positive

Tiny
butterfly

Tinier
butterfly

Tiniest
butterfly

If an adjective has more than one syllable, the word more or less is placed in front of the
positive form of the adjective in the comparative form and the er is not added. If the
adjective has three or more syllables, the word most or least is placed in front of the
positive form of the adjective.
The table below gives examples. The adjectives are in italics.
Intelligent
animal

More
Most
intellige intelligent
nt
animal
animal

Some common adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms. The table
below gives examples of the positive, comparative and superlative forms of these adjectives.

Positive Comparative Superlative

good
better
best
bad
worse
worst
little
less
least
much,
many,
some

more

most

far

further

furthest

There are some adjectives that aren't used in the comparative or the superlative.
These would include: absolute, adequate, chief, complete, devoid, entire, fatal, final, ideal,
impossible, inevitable, irrevocable, main, manifest, minor, parmount, perpetual, preferable,
principal, stationary, sufficient, unanimous, unavoidable, unbroken, unique, universal,
whole

Comparative Adjectives

Often times in writing we wish to compare a noun to another noun. In order to do that we need to
use a special form of adjective called a comparative adjective. Consider how the following
sentence shows degrees of comparison.
Chicago is a big city, but Los Angeles is bigger than Chicago, and New York City is the biggest
city in the United States.
Here the adjective bigger is used to compare Chicago and Los Angeles.

What Are Comparative Adjectives?

Comparative adjectives compare two things, people, or places unlike positive adjectives which
stand alone and do not make comparisons between nouns. Frequently, the word than
accompanies the comparative but not always.
Paul is taller than John.
The taller boy is Paul.

Forming Comparative Adjectives

In some cases the comparative is formed by adding the suffix er to a one syllable adjective.
Sometimes two syllable words become comparative with an er suffix as well. At other times
the words more or less precede a two or three syllable adjective to show degrees of comparison.
However, its not acceptable to do both. In other words, its poor grammar to say Paul is more
taller than John, or less taller than Michael.

Examples of Comparative Adjectives

The following are a few examples of how comparative adjectives are used in sentences.
Stella is a smaller dog than Bruno so she usually loses the fight over dog treats. (Stella is
compared to Bruno.)
We ordered a bigger cake than usual in case unexpected guests came to the party. (The present
cake is compared to the cake they usually order.)
Trey is more handsome than any movie star Ive ever seen. (Trey is compared to a movie star.)
Susan is a kind person but she is less compassionate than Linda. (Susan is compared to Linda.)
The spring garden was lovelier than the fall display of flowers.
Today feels cooler than yesterdays sweltering temperature.
Venus is brighter than Pluto.
Fredas red hair is curlier than Beths.
I was more embarrassed than Carol about the test scores.
Here is a list of some common adjectives and their comparative forms:

angry angrier
Beautiful more beautiful
bright brighter
calm calmer
cool cooler
dirty dirtier
dull duller
embarrassed more embarrassed
fine finer
fresh fresher
hard harder
immense more immense
lovely lovelier
odd- odder
perfect more perfect
rich richer
sweet sweeter

anxious more anxious

brave braver
broad broader
cold colder
curly curlier
dry drier
earlier earlier
evil more evil
friendly friendlier
happy happier
hot hotter
long longer
nervous more nervous
old older
quick quicker
smart smarter
thin thinner

As you can see, not all common adjectives are made comparative by adding the suffix -er. The
examples above show cases where you have to use the words more or less to create the
comparative form. Now, there is just one more rule to consider

Irregular Forms
Some adjectives have irregular forms in the comparative degree, meaning they dont have a
suffix er nor do they need the words more or less. The comparative forms of these adjectives are
totally different words.
good better
bad worse
much more

little less
far farther

Recognizing and choosing comparative adjectives really isnt difficult. Just remember they are
used to compare two objects, people, or places, they are created by adding the suffix -er to the
positive form of a one-syllable adjective or they are have the word more or less preceding them if
the positive adjective is three syllables or more. By keeping these simple rules in mind plus
memorizing a few irregular forms you can confidently use comparative adjectives in your
writing.
The Degrees of Comparison in English grammar are made with the Adjective and Adverb words
to show how big or small, high or low, more or less, many or few, etc., of the qualities, numbers
and positions of the nouns (persons, things and places) in comparison to the others mentioned in
the other part of a sentence or expression.

An Adjective is a word which qualifies (shows how big, small, great, many, few, etc.) a noun or
a pronoun is in a sentence.
An adjective can be attributive (comes before a noun) or predicative (comes in the predicate
part):
e.g. He is a tall man. (tall adjective attributive)
This man is tall. (tall adjective predicative)
An Adverb is a word which adds to the meaning of the main verb (how it is done, when it is
done, etc.) of a sentence or expression.
It normally ends with ly, but there are some adverbs that are without ly:
e.g. She ate her lunch quickly. He speaks clearly. They type fast.
Kinds of comparison:
1. POSITIVE DEGREE: Tom is tall a boy.
In this sentence the word tall is an adjective telling us how Tom is. There is no other person or
thing in this sentence used to compare Tom with, but it is the general way of saying about
persons, animals and things that they have some quality (here tallness) above average in
general sense. The adjective word tall is said to be in the positive form.
This comparison is called positive degree comparison.
There are two more comparisons with the positive form of the adjective words. They are:
(i) Degree of Equality: This comparison is used to compare two persons, animals or things to
tell us that they are equal having the same quality.

There are two cats with the same height and weight, and look the same except for the colour.
Therefore we say:
The brown cat is as beautiful as the grey cat. (= Both the cats are the same.)
The word beautiful is an adjective in the positive form, and with the conjunction asas it
expresses the degree of equality.
(ii) Degree of Inequality: This comparison is used to compare two persons, animals or things to
tell us that they are not equal not having the same quality.

The brown cat is not so beautiful as the black & white cat.

(= They are not the same.)

The word beautiful is an adjective in the positive form, and with the conjunction soas (and
the negative not) it expresses the degree of inequality
2. COMPARATIVE DEGREE:

Tom is a tall boy.

Tom is taller than his sister.

In the second sentence the word taller is an adjective used to compare the tallness of these
two persons Tom and his sister and to tell us that Tom has more of the quality of tallness.
Therefore, an adjective word which shows the difference of quality between twotwo groups of
persons, animals or things is said to be in the comparative form. persons, animals or things, or
This comparison is called Comparative Degree.
There are two more degrees of comparison with the comparative form of an adjective. They
are:
(i) Parallel Degree: This comparison is used to show that the qualities of two items (adjectives
or adverbs) talked about in the given sentence go parallel, i.e. if one quality (adjective or
adverb) increases, the other quality (adjective or adverb) increases, and if one quality decreases,
the other quality also decreases.

The bigger the box, the heavier it is.

(ii) Progressive Degree: This comparison is used to show that the quality of a thing (adjective or
adverb) talked about in the given sentence increases as the time passes, for example:
MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

SUN

25 27 30 33 35 38 40

Its getting hotter and hotter day by day. [as the time passes the temperature increases] OR The
days are getting hotter and hotter.
3. SUPERLATIVE DEGREE:

A musk ox is a large animal.

An elephant is larger than a musk ox.

The blue whale is the largest of all animals.

The blue whale is the largest of all animals in the world.
In this sentence the word (the) largest is an adjective used to compare the largeness of the
blue whale and to tell us that the blue whale has the most quality of largeness.
This comparison is used to compare one person, animal or thing with more than two persons,
animals or things (the rest of the group of more than two), and to say that the particular one has
the highest degree of that
particular quality (here the comparison is between the blue whale
and the rest of the animals, more than two). The adjective large is said to be in the superlative
form.
This comparison is called Superlative Degree.
For power presentation slides on comparisons, click here on degrees.of.comparison. For
continuity, please keep clicking after each feature in each slide.

______________
The next point to be considered is the forms of the adjectives and adverbs.
There are three forms positive form, comparative form and superlative form and seven
degrees of comparison. That means we make seven degrees of comparison using the three forms
of almost every adjective or adverb word. Therefore, it is important for us to discuss the forms
before going any further into this topic.
Most adjective or adverb words in their positive form take er to change to comparative and
est to change to superlative form. However, the words ending in e take only r to change to
comparative form and only st to change to superlative form. And there are other differences
with words having different spelling.
The meaning of an adjective or adverb in Comparative and Superlative form does not change; it
is only the form that is changed but not the meaning.
Therefore, depending on the spelling, the adjective or adverb words are separated into groups so
that we can memorise the spellings of the words in their different forms easily.
Positive comparative superlative

a) the words which end in e belong to his group and take only r in comparative form
and st in superlative form:
brave braver the bravest
large larger the largest
wise wiser the wisest
b) the words which end in any letter other than e and/or y belong to this group and take er in
comparative form and est in superlative from:
sweet sweeter the sweetest
tall taller the tallest
young younger the youngest
c) the words which end in y preceded by a consonant belong to this group; they lose the last
letter y and take ier in the comparative form and iest in superlative form:
happy happier the happiest
easy easier the easiest
heavy heavier the heaviest

The words which end in y preceded by a vowel, however, do not change their spelling but
take r/er in
comparative form and st/est in superlative form: e.g. gay gayer gayest (this word is
now considered old-fashioned in the sense of happy; excited, and in the present day English it
is used for male homosexual).
d) the words which end in a consonant having a vowel before that consonant belong to this
group, and have their last consonant letter doubled before taking er in comparative form and
est in superlative form:
red redder the reddest
thin thinner the thinnest
hot hotter the hottest

e) the words which have two or more vowel sounds in them belong to this group, and take the
word more before them in comparative form and the word (the) most in superlative form:
beautiful

more beautiful

the most beautiful

difficult

more difficult

the most difficult

splendid

more splendid

the most splendid

f) the words in this group do not take any suffix or any other word before them, but change their
spelling and pronunciation entirely to form new words with the same meaning, of course:
good/well better the best
bad/evil/ill worse the worst
little less/lesser* the least
much more the most
many more the most
late later/latter* the latest/last*
old older/elder* the oldest/eldest*
far farther the farthest
fore former the foremost/first*
fore further the furthest
in inner the inmost/inner most
up upper the upmost/uppermost
out outer/utter the utmost/utter most
There are some words in the list that take more than one form in comparative and superlative
form.
Each of the two words gives a different meaning; therefore, it is best to know them well before
going any further in this topic.

Late later, latter; latest, last; old elder, older; eldest, oldest
Far farther, further; farthest, furthest; near nearest, next
Later, latter; latest, last
Later and latest refer to time
Latter and last refer to position
e.g. He is later than I expected.
(recent news)

(he has come late)

I have not heard the latest news.

The latter chapters of the book are interesting. (order of position)

The last chapter is bad. (order of position)
[Suppose there are ten chapters in a book, the latter chapters could be
Chapters 7,8,9 & 10; the last chapter is chapter 10. latter is also used
to talk about the second of the two people or things mentioned.]
The word latter is, strictly speaking, used for only two persons or things; however, it is also
used for three persons or things, as in the latter of the three, but in American English.
Elder, older; eldest, oldest
Elder and eldest are used only of persons seniority than age.
(they are used with members of the same family.)
** Elder is not used with conjunction than.
Older and oldest are used of both persons and things time (age)
e.g. John is my elder brother. Ahmed is his eldest son. (family relation seniority)
Tom is older than his sister. (of people family relation age)
Sarah is the oldest girl in the class.

(of people no family relation age)

Town Hall is the oldest building in our town. (of things age)
Tom is older than his sister. so Tom is her elder brother. and She is his younger
sister.

There are, however, some occasions where older and oldest are used for showing the seniority
of members of the same family. Here we have a good example:
Is Aunt Dee your oldest sister, Dad?
(family relation seniority but oldest is used)
Taken from BASIC SKILLS IN ENGLISH Book 6, by The Editorial Staff of Mc Dougal,
Littell and Company, USA
_______________
[According to the traditional grammar rule, we are supposed to use the definite article the
before the superlative form of an adjective. However, here we have a classic example showing
the article a before the superlative form of an adjective by Moshe Riess:
BIRTH AND GROWTH IN EGYPT
The first we hear of Moses is that a man of the tribe of Levi marries a woman of the same tribe.
This may the only time that the Torah mention that both parents are of the same tribe. In this to
emphasis that despite Moses growing up as an Egyptian he is a Hebrew? They have a son. 1From
this it would appear that Moses is a firstborn, but he has an older brother Aaron and an older
sister Miriam. Thus Moses appears to be an oldest and a youngest. The Midrash has a different
explanation. In Egypt a prophecy ]
_______________
Less/lesser
These two words are the comparative forms of the word little.
The difference is: less suggests amount, and lesser suggests degree showing
some negative sense in a choice of two!
For example,
She has less money than he (has).
Which is the lesser of the two evils, drinking or smoking?
[Both drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco are evils, but wed like to compare and decide
which one is more harmful more negative in this choice of two!]
Though there is a debate in the educated circles as to when and where to use which word,
less or lesser, the learners at this basic level need not worry much about this pair, but
keep an eye on these words and note down the examples whenever they come across these
words.
Foremost/first

These two words are synonyms, i.e. either word can be used. However, there is some difference
in their usage.
Foremost means the best or the most important; in a top or leading position
in a group of people or things; for example,
Gerald Durrell is one of the foremost authorities on animal protection plans.
Gerald Durrell is the first person to start a Trust (zoo) to protect the endangered species of
animals from around the world
Inmost/innermost ; upmost/uppermost; utmost/utter most
These pairs of words are synonyms. There are sentences where both these words are used for the
same context. Learners at this basic level need not worry about these pairs right now.

[Visit WORDS OFTEN CONFUSED under VOCABULARY for more sets of words that
usually confuse us.]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Now lets discuss each Degree in some detail:
The positive degree of an adjective or adverb is in its simple form. It is used to denote or say
the mere existence of some quality of what we speak about. It is used when no comparison is
made, but just to point out that the quality is above average. [see figure 1] Tom is a tall boy.
Here we have only one person and one quality; and Toms quality of being tall is above average.
The comparative degree of an adjective or adverb denotes more degree of the quality than the
positive degree, and is used when two persons, animals or things, or two sets/groups of persons,
animals or things are compared with one another. [see figure 4] Tom is taller than his sister.
Here we have two persons Tom and his sister and the comparison is made to show that one is
more in the quality of being tall than the other. The word than is the conjunction we must use
in the comparative degree. In fact the example sentence in full is: Tom is taller than his sister is
tall. The predicate part in the subordinate clause (is tall) is normally not mentioned but
understood. Please see item (f) under Some Extraordinary Rules.
The superlative degree of an adjective or adverb denotes the most degree of the quality, and is
used for more than two persons, animals or things one against the rest one having the
highest degree of the quality in/of the rest. The Definite Article the is used before the adjective
word in its superlative form, and the preposition of is used with people, animals and things and
in or under with places and position. [see figure 7] The blue whale is the largest of all the

animals in the world. Here we have the blue whale and the rest of the animals, and the blue
whale has the quality of being large in the highest degree (above all others) the supreme.
The Definite Article the is not used with the superlative form most when it is used to
mean very, and when it is used to indicate the possession of a quality in a very high degree
but without any comparison: This is most unfortunate. A most ingenious idea! Note that
it is not the definite article the that is always used before the superlative form of an
adjective or adverb. The demonstrative adjective or the possessive adjective is also used
depending on the context! e.g. Our football player is in his best form this season.
The degree of equality of an adjective or adverb is used when two things are compared with a
quality to show that they both have the same degree of that quality. It is almost like saying that
they both are the same. [see figure 2] The positive form of the adjective or adverb word is used
with the conjunction asas. For example: This building is as tall as the next one. In other
words The two buildings are the same in height.
The degree of inequality of an adjective or adverb is to show that two persons, animals or things
are not the same in having a quality. [see figure 3] The positive form of the adjective or adverb
word is used with the conjunction soas. For example, The male dancer is not so graceful as
the female dancer. They are not the same in being graceful. This comparison is almost the same
as the Comparative Degree: The female dancer is more graceful than the male dancer. Or The
male dancer is less graceful than the female dancer.
The conjunction in the Degree of equality is asas, but in the Degree of inequality the
conjunction used is soas. In spoken English the conjunction asas is accepted even
in the Degree of Inequality; in written or formal British English, however, only soas is
accepted. Not everyone accepts or follows this rule!
The parallel degree is a comparison having two adjectives or adverbs one dependent on the
other which means when one activity with one adjective or adverb increases or decreases the
other activity with another adjective or adverb also increases or decreases. [see figure 5] For
example, The higher you climb, the more difficult you will feel. Here we have two adjectives
high and difficult, and when the height of a hill (or a ramp) increases, the difficulty in climbing
also increases, and when the height decreases, the difficulty also decreases.
The comparative form of the adjectives or adverbs is used in this comparison, and the most
important point to remember is that the article the is used before the comparative form
of the adjective or adverb words the higher and the more difficult. {In the comparative
degree, the comparative form of and adjective or adverb is not used with any article! For
example, This hill is higher than that hill. you notice that the article the is not used
before higher.}
So, what we understand from these examples is that in Comparative Degree the
comparative form of an adjective or adverb word is not used with any article in the
Parallel Degree, however, we should use the article the before the comparative form of
the adjective or adverb word!

Some dictionaries categorise the article the in this parallel degree comparison as an
adverb; some others say this use of article the before a word in its comparative form is
idiomatic (an idiom), and yet some other dictionaries accept this as comparative degree!
The progressive degree of an adjective or adverb is used to show that some quality is on the
increase or decrease as the time or some other course of action passes. [see figure 6] The
comparative form of the word is repeated, using the conjunction and, without any article.
The patient is getting weaker and weaker day by day.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
SOME EXTRAORDINARY RULES
There are some exceptions to some of the rules we have already discussed, and it is necessary for
any learner to know them and apply them whenever they are needed.
*In case you find the following rules difficult to understand right now, please leave them
out for the time being and proceed to the other items and try to understand them, and once
the other points in those items are clearly understood, then you can come back to these
rules to revise them one by one.

1. The comparative form with r or er in Comparative Degree is not used when we compare
two qualities in the same person, animal or thing:
e.g. Mr. George is more fast than skillful.
George One player; two qualities fast & skillful fast being more
In the example above, we have only one person, Mr. George, and two qualities fast and
skillful in him; and we are comparing those two qualities to say that he has one quality more
than the other fast being more than skillful. So in such cases we do not use the original
comparative form with r or er though the adjective has the form, but use more before the
word in its positive form. That is to say the adjective word fast has faster for its comparative
form, but we have not used it here because we are not comparing Mr. George with anybody else,
but are comparing the two qualities Mr. George has in him!
Mr. George runs faster than Mr. David.
two players George & David one quality fast George has more faster
In this sentence Mr. George is compared with another person called Mr. David,
and the quality being only one fast, it is used in its comparative form faster.

Here is a classic example from the book The Rare Birds of Southern Africa by Dr. Phillip
Alexander Clancy, published by Winchester Press Ltd., 1985:
Due to its secretive habits, (the bird is) generally considered more rare than it is.
2. When two persons, animals or things of the same group or kind are compared with
each other, the latter (i.e. the second of the two) of the comparison must exclude the former (i.e.
the first of the two):
e.g. Iron is more useful than any other metal. {Remember iron is a metal.}
The phrase any other shows that the metal iron is separated from the other metals in this
context. Suppose the expression is put in this way:
Iron is more useful than any metal. [without the word other], it will be the same as saying:
Iron is more useful than iron. which is meaningless because iron is itself a metal!
Compare:

Mary is cleverer than any boy in the class. [without other]

This expression (sentence) is accepted because Mary is a girl and she is compared with boys
who are not her (gender) kind or group.
Mary is cleverer than any girl in the class. (wrong)
This expression (sentence) is not accepted because Mary is a girl and she is compared with her
own kind or group.
Therefore, this expression should be: Mary is cleverer than any other girl in the class.
3. With the superlative form of the adjective or adverb in the Superlative Degree,
the article the must be used before the form with almost all the adjectives and adverbs.
There are, however, a couple of words which do not take the article the before them in some
special expressions. One word most has already been mentioned in the explanation for the
Superlative Degree; the other one is best which needs to be dealt with separately.
For example, in the expression with best wishes we do not use the article the before best.
So it is advisable to refer to a dictionary to learn about best and most in detail.

____________________________________

When we want to compare two or more nouns using adjectives, we use the comparative and
superlative forms of the adjective to show the comparison between the nouns. E.g. Honey is sweet, sugar is sweeter but victory is the sweetest.
In this sentence, we are comparing the three nouns using the positive, comparative and
superlative forms of the word sweet.
Positive Form These are the simple adjectives that simply describe the noun without comparing it to another big, sweet, clean, etc.
She has a big black dog.
He is a sweet boy.
The cupboard is clean.
Comparative Form These are used when we are comparing two nouns and need to show which noun possesses the
adjective or character in a greater or lesser amount, when compared with the other. - bigger,
sweeter, cleaner, etc.
I have a big dog but hers is bigger.
He is sweeter than the other boys.
The cupboard is cleaner than before.
Superlative Form This form is used when three or more nouns are being compared and we need to show that one or
more of the nouns posses the adjective or characteristic to the highest amount possible. We
usually add the before the superlative form. - biggest, sweetest, cleanest, etc.
She has the biggest dog in the colony.
He is the sweetest boy in his class.
The cupboard is the cleanest thing in the house.

Making Comparatives and Superlatives

There are certain rules that must be followed in the making of the comparatives and superlatives
of the adjectives. Not all adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives in the same way
and there are also some irregular adjectives that form completely different comparative and
superlative forms.
Single Syllable Words and Double Syllable Words ending with -y, -er, -ow, -le We use -er to make the comparative and -est to make the superlative.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Black

Blacker

Blackest

Fair

Fairer

Fairest

Clever

Cleverer

Cleverest

When there is a silent e at the end of the positive form, we remove that and add -er and -est

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Nice

Nicer

Nicest

Late

Later

Latest

When the adjective ends with a y, we convert the y into i before adding -er and -est

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Pretty

Prettier

Prettiest

Lazy

Lazier

Laziest

If the adjective is a small one with little stress on the vowel, we double the last consonant.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Hot

Hotter

Hottest

Wet

Wetter

Wettest

Other Words with Two or More Syllables For other double syllable words that do not end with -y, -er, -ow, -le, and for adjectives with
more than two syllables we use more and most to form the comparatives and superlatives.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Difficult

More Difficult

Most Difficult

Careful

More Careful

Most Careful

Handsome

More Handsome

Most Handsome

Interesting

More Interesting

Most Interesting

Special Adjectives -

There a few adjectives that can use both -er and -est and more and most to form their
comparative and superlative forms. The distinction between these is that -er and -est are used
when we are comparing the noun to another noun and more and most is used when we are
comparing characteristics within the noun.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Example

He is cleverer than her.

Clever

Quiet

Cleverer/ More
Clever

Cleverest/Most
Clever

Quieter/ More Quiet Quietest/ Most Quiet

He is more clever than

studious.

This is the most quiet it gets

here.
This is the quietest place.

She is braver than other girls.

Brave

Braver/ More Brave Bravest/ Most Brave

She was more brave than

afraid.

He was surer of the result

than others.
Sure

Surer/ More Sure

Surest/ Most Sure

Youll be more sure about the

concept after you read the
chapter.

Irregular Comparisons These adjectives do not make their comparative and superlative forms using the rules above.
Their comparative and superlative forms are different words altogether.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Bad

Worse

Worst

Good

Better

Best

Far (place & time)

Further

Furthest

Far (place)

Farther

Farthest

Old (people)

Elder

Eldest

Little (amount)

Less

Least

Late (order)

Latter

Last