Comparative and superlative adjectives
Comparative adjectives
Comparative adjectives compare one person or thing with another and enable us to say whether a person or thing has more or less of a particular quality:
Josh istaller thanhis sister.
I’mmore interestedin musicthansport.
Big cars that use a lot of petrol areless popularnowthantwenty years ago.
Superlative adjectives
Superlative adjectives describe one person or thing as having more of a quality than all other people or things in a group:
The ‘Silver Arrow’ will bethe fastest trainin the world when it is built.
The most frightening filmI’ve ever seen was Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’.
What isthe least expensive wayof travelling in Japan?
Comparative or superlative?
A comparative compares a person or thing with another person or thing. A superlative compares a person or thing with the whole group of which that person or thing is a member:
Joe’solderthan Mike.(comparing one person with another)
Sheila isthe youngestgirl in the family.(comparing one person with the whole group she belongs to)
When there are just two members in a group, traditionally, we use the comparative. However, in informal situations people often use the superlative:
Who isyounger, Rowan or Tony?(traditional usage)
Jan and Barbara are both tall, but Jan’sthe tallest.(more informal)
Comparative and superlative adjectives: form
One-syllable adjectives (big,cold,hot,long,nice,old,tall)
To form the comparative, we use the -ersuffix with adjectives of one syllable:
It’scoldertoday than yesterday.
It was alongerholiday than the one we had last year.
Sasha isolderthan Mark.
To form the superlative, we use the -estsuffix with adjectives of one syllable. We normally usethebefore a superlative adjective:
I think that’sthe biggestapple I’ve ever seen!
At one time, the Empire State building in New York wasthetallestbuilding in the world.
They have three boys. Richard isthe oldestand Simon isthe youngest.
Spelling of comparatives and superlatives with one-syllable adjectives
type of adjective | comparative | superlative |
most adjectives | add -er:cheaper,richer,smaller,younger | add -est:cheapest,richest,smallest,youngest |
adjectives ending in -e | add -r:finer,nicer,rarer | add -st:finest,nicest,rarest |
adjectives with one vowel + one consonant: | double the final consonant and add -er:bigger,hotter, thinner | double the final consonant and add -est:biggest,hottest,thinnest |
Note the pronunciationof these comparatives and superlatives:
long/lɒŋ/longer/lɒŋgə(r)/longest/lɒŋgəst/
strong/strɒŋ/stronger/strɒŋgə(r)/strongest/strɒŋgəst/
young/jʌŋ/younger/jʌŋgə(r)/youngest/jʌŋgəst/
One-syllable adjectives which are irregular
Some one-syllable adjectives have irregular comparative andsuperlative forms:
bad, worse, worstfar, farther/further, farthest/furthest
good, better, bestold, older/elder, oldest/eldest
The morning flight isbetterthan the afternoon one.
Hiseldersister works for the government.
Olivia is Denise’sbestfriend.
I think that was theworstfilm I’ve ever seen!
Pluto isthe furthestplanet from the sun in our solar system.
We do not usemoreormosttogether with an -eror -estending:
They emigrate because they are looking for abetterlife.
Not: …a more better life
The beach at Marmaris is one ofthebiggestin Turkey.
Not: …the most biggest…
See also:
Farther,farthestorfurther,furthest?
Elder,eldestorolder,oldest?
Two-syllable adjectives
Two-syllable adjectives ending in-ychangeytoiand take the -erand -estendings:
busy,busier,busiest | happy,happier,happiest |
easy,easier,easiest | funny,funnier,funniest |
We werebusierlast week than this week.
Are youhappiernow that you’ve changed your job?
That wasthe easiestexam I’ve ever taken.
Some other two-syllable adjectives (especially those ending in an unstressed vowel sound) can also take the -erand -estendings:
clever, cleverer,cleverest | quiet, quieter,quietest |
narrow, narrower,narrowest | simple, simpler,simplest |
I’ve always thought that Donald wasclevererthan his brother.
This new bed isnarrowerthan the old one.
The guest bedroom isthe quietestroom in the house because it overlooks the garden.
We don’t normally use the -erand-estendings with two-syllable adjectives ending in-ful. Instead, we usemoreandmost/least:
This dictionary ismore usefulthan the one we had before.
Not:This dictionary is usefuller…
You’ll have to try to bemore carefulin future.
The most usefultool in the kitchen is a good sharp knife.
Not:The usefulest tool in the kitchen…
This isthe least harmfulchemical in terms of the environment.
Longer adjectives
Adjectives of three or more syllables form the comparative withmore/lessand the superlative withmost/least:
The second lecture wasmore interestingthan the first.
Not:The second lecture was interestinger…
That way of calculating the figures seemsless complicatedto me.
London isthe most populartourist destination in England.
Not:London is the popularest…
If you are going as a group,the least expensiveoption is to rent an apartment or villa.
Comparative adjectives: usingmuch,a lot,far, etc.
We can strengthen or emphasise a comparative adjective using words such asmuch, a lot, far, evenorrather, or by usingthan everafter the adjective:
This food ismuch betterthan the food we had yesterday.
The town isa lot more crowdedthese days because of the new shopping centre.
Alex isfar less intelligentthan the other kids in the class.
We’ve beenbusier than everat work this last month or so.
We can soften a comparative adjective usinga littleora bit.A bitis less formal:
She feelsa little more confidentnow that she’s given her first public performance.
orShe feelsa bit more confident…(less formal)
Comparative adjectives: usingthan
We usethanwhen we mention the second person or thing in the comparison. If the second person mentioned takes the form of a personal pronoun, we normally use the object form of the pronoun (me, you, him, her, us, them):
Could you carry this? You’re strongerthan me.
Not:You’re stronger than I.
Why did you choose Robert? Marie is more experiencedthan him.
In more formal situations, instead ofthan+ object pronoun, we can usethan+ subject pronoun +be:
You managed to answer the ten questions correctly? Well, you’re definitely clevererthan I am!
I preferred Henrietta to Dennis. She was always more sociablethan he was.
Comparative adjectives: -erand-er,more and more
To talk about how a person or thing is changing and gaining more of a particular quality, we can use two -erform adjectives connected byand, or we can usemore and morebefore an adjective. We don’t follow such comparisons withthan:
The weather is gettinghotter and hotter.
I’m gettingmore and more interestedin conservation these days.
Comparative adjectives:the -er, the -erandthe more …, the more…
If a person or things gains more of a particular quality and this causes a parallel increase of another quality, we can repeatthe+ a comparative adjective:
The colderit is,the hungrierI get.(as the weather gets colder, I get hungrier)
The more generousyou are towards others,the more generousthey are likely to be towards you.
Reduced forms after comparatives
Afterthan, we often don’t repeat subject pronouns with impersonal subjects, orauxiliary verbs with passive voiceverbs:
The exam results werebetter than predicted.(preferred to …better than people predicted.)
Temperatures that summer werehigher than previously recorded.(preferred to …than were previously recorded.)
Lessandnot as/not sowith comparatives
We uselesswith longer adjectives (interesting, beautiful, complicated), but we don’t normally uselesswith short adjectives of one syllable (big, good, high, small). Instead we usenot as … as…, ornot so … as … Not asis more common thannot so:
The second method wasless complicated thanthe first one.
This new laptop isnot as fast asmy old one. I’m sorry I bought it now.(preferred tois less fast than my old one.)
Prepositions after superlative adjectives
We don’t normally useofbefore a singular name of a place or group after a superlative adjective:
The castle isthe oldestbuilding in the city.
Not:The castle is the oldest building of the city…
She’sthe youngestmusician in the orchestra.
However, we can useofwith a plural word referring to a group:
All the sisters are pretty, but Sarah’sthe prettiestof them all.
Thewith superlative adjectives
When a superlative adjective is followed by a noun, we normally usethe:
This isthe best mealI’ve had for a long time.
Not:This is best meal…
In informal situations, we can often omittheafter a linking verb (be, seem) or a verb of the senses (look, taste) if there is no noun:
[talking about sweaters in a shop]
They’ve got them in red, green or grey. Which looksbest?
If you want to get a message to Peter, email isquickest. He never answers the phone.
Other determiners with superlative adjectives
Before a superlative adjective, we can use a possessive determiner (my, his, their), orthe+ a number (two, three, first, second), or a possessive determiner + a number:
My worstscore ever in an exam was zero. I just couldn’t answer any of the questions.
Birmingham is thesecond biggestcity in England.
His two bestfriends organised a surprise party for him on his fortieth birthday.
Emphasising superlative adjectives
We can make a superlative adjective stronger withby far, easilyorof all:
The Beatles wereby far the most successfulrock band of the 1960s.
This method isby far the least complicated.
She’seasily the bestdancer in the group. No one is as elegant as her.
There were a number of excellent poems entered for the competition, butthe bestpoemof allwas written by a ten-year-old boy.
In more formal situations, we can usequite:
This isquite the most irresponsiblebehaviour I have ever seen.
To-infinitives after superlative adjectives
We can use ato-infinitive after a superlative adjective, with a meaning similar to a relative clause withwho,whichorthat:
Who wasthe oldestpersonto competein the London Marathon of 2008?(Who was the oldest person who competed …?)
The Golden Swan wasthe largestsailing-ship everto be usedin battle.
See also:
Relative clauses
Comparative adjectives: typical errors
Acomparative adjective is followed bythan, notthatoras:
The next hotel we tried wasmore expensive thanthe first one.
Not: …more expensive that the first one… or …more expensive as the first one…
After a superlative adjective, we don’t normally useofbefore a singular name of a place or group:
She wasthe tallestgirl in the team.
Not:She was the tallest girl of the team.
We use the superlative, not the comparative, when we compare more than two people or things:
Which is the city’sbiggesthotel?
Not: …bigger hotel