Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Adjectives are often used to compare nouns or pronouns. These comparative adjectives have three forms that show greater or lesser degrees of quality, quantity, or manner: positive, comparative, and superlative. Below are examples of comparative and superlative adjectives.

Positive Form

The positive degree, or basic form, describes a noun or pronoun without comparing it to any other. (Do not confuse positive with good. In this context, positive simply means "possessing the quality." The quality itself may be good, bad, or neutral.)

• Dan is tall.
• Bananas are tasty.
• Ms. Hoo is busy.
• Zeus is strong.
• Athena is smart.
• Bacchus is lazy.
• James is silly.
• The soldier is brave.
• Oliver Ellsworth is eloquent.

Comparative Form

The comparative form compares two persons, places, or things.

• Dan is taller than Tina.
• Are bananas tastier than apples?
• Ms. Hoo is busier than Ms. Lu.
• Zeus is stronger than Athena.
• Is Athena smarter than Zeus?
• Bacchus is lazier than Pan.
• James is sillier than John.
• The soldier is braver than I am.
• Is Oliver Ellsworth more eloquent than Mr. Johnson?

Superlative Form

The superlative form compares three or more persons, places, or things.

• Of all the students, Dan is the tallest.
• Are bananas the tastiest of all the fruits?
• Ms. Hoo is the busiest of the four teachers.
• Of Zeus, Athena, and Bacchus, Zeus is the strongest.
• Athena is the smartest of the three.
• Bacchus is the laziest of all the Greek gods.
• James is the silliest of the four brothers.
• That soldier is the bravest in the army.
• Is Oliver Ellsworth the most eloquent of all?

Examples 1

We practice using comparative and superlative adjectives correctly Choose the correct adjective for each sentence.

1. My cat is (fat, fatter, fattest) than yours.
2. Of the three, Krystal is the (wise, wiser, wisest).
3. Jo is the (fast, faster, fastest) of the two runners.
4. Of all the characters, Tim was the (funny, funnier, funniest).
5. Samantha is the (tall, taller, tallest) of the two players.
6. My house is (old, older, oldest) than yours.
7. Scamp, the Siamese cat, is (spunky, spunkier, spunkiest) than Kit Kat, the Himalayan.
8. Jaime seems (perky, perkier, perkiest) than Hector.

Solutions

Here we show the correct use of comparative and superlative adjectives:

1. My cat is fatter than yours. We use the comparative form because we are comparing cats.
2. Of the three, Krystal is the wisest. We use the superlative form because we are comparing three or more people.
3. Jo is the faster of the two runners. We use the comparative form because we are comparing only two.
4. Of all the characters, Tim was the funniest. We use the superlative form because we are comparing three or more characters.
5. Samantha is the taller of the two players. We use the comparative form because we are comparing two players.
6. My house is older than yours. We use the comparative form because we are comparing two houses.
7. Scamp, the Siamese cat, is spunkier than Kit Kat, the Himalayan. We use the comparative form because we are comparing only two cats.
8. Jaime seems perkier than Hector. We use the comparative form because we are comparing only two people.

Forming Comparison Adjectives

How we create the comparative and superlative adjective depends on how the adjective appears in its positive form. There are three main categories to remember.

One-Syllable Adjectives

We create the comparative form of most one-syllable adjectives by adding er to the end of the word. The superlative form is created by adding est.

Two-Syllable Adjectives

Most adjectives with two or more syllables do not have comparative or superlative forms. Instead, we use the word "more" (or "less") before the adjective to form the comparative, and the word "most" (or "least") to form the superlative.

Two-Syllable Adjectives that end in y

When a two-syllable adjective ends in y, we create the comparative and superlative adjective forms by changing the y to i and adding er or est.

Exceptions

There are exceptions to these guidelines. Below are a few examples of two-syllable adjectives whose comparative and superlative adjective forms are created by adding er or est.

Spelling Reminders

When adding er or est to create comparative and superlative adjectives, we often must alter the word's original spelling. We apply the same rules we use when adding ed to form a past-tense verb.

Examples 2

Complete the comparison chart by adding the comparative and superlative  adjectives for each positive form.

Solutions