Adverbs: comparative and superlative forms
Adverbs do not normally change in form, but a few have comparative and superlative forms. These are usually short adverbs and so they normally havecomparative and superlative forms with -erand -est.
Some of the most common comparative and superlative adverbs are:
soon sooner soonest | fast faster fastest |
hard harder hardest | near nearer nearest |
early earlier earliest | far farther/further farthest/furthest |
late later latest |
Teachers always say that students must workharder.
The kids were playing in the garden, seeing who could jumphighest.
We don’t usemoreormosttogether with an -eror -estending:
Children learn thingsfasterthan adults.
Not: …more faster than adults.
Who ranslowestin the race?
Not:Who ran most slowest
Adverbs withmoreandmost
Adverbs with two or more syllables form the comparative and superlative withmoreandmost:
We need to treat the environmentmore carefully.
It wasthe most beautifullydesigned chair.
Comparative adverbs: usingthan
When we mention the second person or thing in the comparison, we usethan. We do not usethatoras. 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):
I can’t keep up with him – he runs much fasterthan me.
Not:faster that meorfaster as me
In more formal situations, instead ofthan+ object pronoun, we can usethan+ subject pronoun +be, door a modal verb:
My wife drives more carefullythan I do.
She can read music much more quicklythan I can.
Wellandbadly
The adverbwellhas the same comparative and superlative forms as the adjectivegood(better,best). The adverbbadlyhas the comparative and superlative formsworse,worst:
[talking about playing tennis]
I playedbetteryesterday but I need to improve my serve.
A lot of people behaved badly at the party, but she behavedworstof all.