If you're trying to learn English Comparative you will find some useful resources including a course about comparative, superiority, inferiority, and the superlative... to help you with your English grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and notice the pattern that occurs each time the word changes its place. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn English. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
Learning the English Comparative displayed below is vital to the English language. But first we need to know what the role of Comparative is in the structure of the grammar in English.
To compare two things we usually add (…er than) to the adjective, for example the rabbit is fast, the turtle is slow, to compare them we say: the rabbit is faster than the turtle (superiority). Or the turtle is slower than the rabbit (inferiority).
Superiority is when you start with the higher thing you want to compare. Inferiority when you start with the lower thing or person compared.
So you must remember to add (er) to the adjective and then place (than) after the (er). My brother is taller than me. It's very easy! (adjective+er) + than.
Note that some words with two syllables or more take a different form, especially if they don’t have a “y” at the end. Example
Exercise A is difficult, and exercise B is not very difficult, so we say: Exercise A is more difficult than Exercise B, (you cannot say difficulter), usually words with two syllables are longer. So whenever you feel a word is longer than one syllable and doesn’t end in “y”, use the second form which is: more + adjective + than.
Note that there are some exceptions, that's why you need to look at the table below.
|
Rule |
Examples |
|
If a word of one syllable is ending in 'e' then add –r at the end. |
nice becomes nicer |
|
If a word has one syllable, with one vowel + consonant at the end, then double the consonant and add –er. |
big becomes bigger |
|
If a word has two syllables, and is ending in 'y', then change 'y' to 'i', and add -er at the end. |
tasty - tastier |
|
The following words change entirely: Good becomes better, bad becomes worse, far becomes further |
freedom is better than slavery |
|
If a word has two syllables or more, and is not ending in 'y' then place 'more' before the adjective. |
difficult becomes more difficult |
The Superlative
The superlative is different from the comparative because it makes a comparison between one thing or person and the rest (more than two). So it’s not only a comparison between (one and one) but (one and many). Example: Emanuel is the tallest student at school. Emanuel is not only taller than one person, but the tallest in the whole school.
To form the superlative we add (the ~est) and put the adjective in between them: (tall becomes the tallest, small becomes the smallest, high becomes the highest), very easy! the + (adjective+est)
Note that there are some small exceptions:
|
Rule |
Examples |
|
If a word of one syllable is ending in 'e' then add –st at the end. |
nice becomes the nicest |
|
If a word has one syllable, with one vowel + consonant at the end, then double the consonant and add –est. |
big becomes the biggest |
|
If a word has two syllables, and is ending in 'y', then change 'y' to 'i', and add -iest at the end. |
tasty – the tastiest |
|
The 3 Irregular adjectives: Good becomes the best, bad becomes the worst, far becomes the furthest |
freedom is the best |
|
If a word has two syllables or more, and is not ending in 'y' then place the most before the adjective. |
difficult becomes the most difficult |
I think Couscous is the tastiest dish in the world; Russia is the largest country, but not the most populated place in the world.
The comparative, superiority, inferiority, and the superlative have a very important role in English. Once you're done with English Comparative, you might want to check the rest of our English lessons here: Learn English. Don't forget to bookmark this page.
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