Comparative & Superlative Adjectives

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Sentence Structures

Adjectives come before the object in the sentence and define the object.

Example:

They purchased a big house.

• Big: adjective
• House: object

If there is no object in the sentence, adjectives are used alone and are not preceded by the articles “a” or “an”.

Example:

She is beautiful.

My uncle is generous. He spends lots of money on poor people.

Comparative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives are used to compare more than one object.

In comparative sentences, the order is like:

Subject + Verb + Adjective + Than + Object

• If the adjective you use has one syllable, -er is added to the end of the adjective.

• Big – Bigger
• Short – Shorter
• Fast – Faster
• Dark – Darker

• If the adjective you use has two syllables and ends with the letter “y”, that “y” is dropped and “ier” is substituted.

• Funny – Funnier
• Happy – Happier

• If the adjective has two or more syllables, the word “more” is used before the adjective.

• Comfortable – More comfortable
• Popular – More popular
• Expensive – More expensive

Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives have the meaning of comparison as in the comparative adjectives, but instead of comparing 2 objects, we compare one object with all others.

When constructing a superlative sentence, the order of elements is like this:

Subject + Verb + The + Adjective + Object

• ∗If the adjective you will use in the sentence has one syllable, the adjective “-est” is added.

• Biggest – The biggest
• Shortest – The shortest
• Fastest – The fastest
• Darkest – The darkest

• ∗If the adjective you use has two syllables and ends with the letter “y”, that “y” is dropped and “iest” is substituted.

• Funny – The funniest
• Happy – The happiest

• ∗If the adjective has two or more syllables, the word “most” is used before the adjective.

• Comfortable – The most comfortable
• Popular – The most popular
• Expensive – The most expensive

We have seen the rules of Comparative and Superlative structures. It’s actually not that difficult. But as in many other subjects in English, there are some exceptions. Here is the list of irregular adjectives:

• Good – Better – Best
• Bad – Worse – Worst
• Far – Farther or Further – Farthest or Furthest
• Much – More – Most
• Many – More – Most
• Little – Less – Least
• Old – Elder – Eldest (for the family members)