Comparatives & Superlatives

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THE BIG PICTURE:

To compare people, places and things to each other, use comparatives and superlatives. Use comparatives when talking about two items. Use superlatives when there are more than two items.

Examples of comparatives in adjective form are smarter, more attractive. Superlatives in adjective form are smartest, most attractive.

Forming superlatives can be a little confusing.

Use these rules for words with ONE SYLLABLE:

Standard form	Comparative	Superlative
Word ends in ‘e’: nice, late	add -r nicer, later	add -st nicest, latest
Three letter words, with consonant + vowel + consonant hot, fat, wet, big	double the last letter, then add –er hotter, fatter, wetter, bigge	double the last letter, then add –est hottest, fattest, wettest, biggest
More than one vowel or consonant at the end great, fast, old	add –er greater, faster, older	add –est greatest, fastest, oldest

Use these rules for words with TWO OR MORE SYLLABLES:

Standard form	Comparative	Superlative
Word ends in ‘y’: ugly, silly, jolly	change y to i and add -er uglier, sillier, jollier	change y to i and add -estr ugliest, silliestr, jolliest=
Two or more syllables, not ending in y= modern, impressive, useful	add more before word more modern, more impressive, more useful	add most before word most modern, most impressive, most useful

EXCEPTIONS: "good" and "bad" have irregular forms and do not follow the above rules. The comparative of good is better and the superlative is best. The comparative of bad is worse and the superlative is worst.

Note that whenever you have a comparison, you'll see the word "than" after the adjective. Example: Mike is funnier than his wife.

Note that whenever you have a superlative, the word "the" will be before the adjective. Example: Mike is the funniest guy I know.