COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES 1. Forming regular comparatives and superlatives How these forms are created depends on how many syllables there are in the adjective. Syllables are like “sound beats”. For instance, “sing” contains one syllable, but “singing” contains two — sing and ing. Here are the rules: Adjective form Only one syllable, ending in E. Examples: wide, fine, cute Only one syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at the end. Examples: hot, big, fat Only one syllable, with more than one vowel or more than one consonant at the end. Examples: light, neat, fast Two syllables, ending in Y Examples: happy, silly, lonely Two syllables or more, not ending in Y. Examples: modern, interesting, beautiful Comparatives Comparative Add -r: wider, finer, cuter, older Superlative Add -st: widest, finest, cutest, oldest Double the consonant, and add -er: hotter, bigger, fatter Double the consonant, and add -est: hottest, biggest, fattest Add -er: lighter, neater, faster Add -est: lightest, neatest, fastest Change y to i, then add -er: happier, sillier, lonelier Use “more” before the adjective: more modern, more interesting, more beautiful Change y to i, then add -est: happiest, silliest, loneliest Use “most” before the adjective: most modern, most interesting, most beautiful Comparatives are used to compare two things. You can use sentences with “than”, or you can use a conjunction like “but”. Jiro is taller than Yukio. Superlatives Yukio is tall, but Jiro is taller. Superlatives are used to compare more than two things. Superlative sentences usually use “the”, because there is only one superlative. Masami is the tallest in the class. Exceptions. Yukio is tall, and Jiro is taller, but Masami is the tallest. Irregular adjectives. Irregular Adjective good bad far little many Comparative Form better worse farther less more Italian food is better than American food. My cooking is worse than your mother's cooking. Superlative Form best worst farthest least most My dog is the best dog in the world. Of all the students in the class, Max is the worst. Two-syllable adjectives that follow two rules. These adjectives can be used with -er and -est and with more and most. Two-Syllable Adjective clever gentle friendly quiet simple Comparative Form Cleverer / more clever Gentler / more gentle Friendlier / more friendly Quieter / more quiet Simpler / more simple Superlative Form Cleverest /most clever Gentlest / most gentle Friendliest / most friendly Quietest / most quiet Simplest / most simple Big dogs are gentler than small dogs. Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the gentlest. Big dogs are more gentle than small dogs. Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the most gentle. EXERCISES FILL IN THE CORRECT FORM OF THE WORDS IN BRACKETS (COMPARATIVE OR SUPERLATIVE). 1. My house is (big) 2. This flower is (beautiful) 3. This is the (interesting) 4. Non-smokers usually live (long) 5. Which is the (dangerous) 6. A holiday by the sea is (good) 7. It is strange but often a coke is (expensive) 8. Who is the (rich) 9. The weather this summer is even (bad) 10. He was the (clever) 1. than yours. than that one. book I have ever read. than smokers. animal in the world? than a holiday in the mountains. than a beer. woman on earth? than last summer. thief of all. I have heard that the Masai tribe are people in the world. 2. "The Simpsons" is 3. If you want to go downtown, 4. The east coast of Australia is 5. I found Alien 2 6. The Mariana Trench is famous because it is there that we find ________________ waters in the world. (deep) 7. She is (wonderful) 8. There are 9. The unemployment in Montreal is 10. Which fast food restaurant has 11. "The Flintstones" in my opinion. (tall) way is to take the metro. the west coast. Alien 1. 12. My new car runs elephants in Africa than in India. (populated) (many) that of Toronto. hotdogs? my old one. (easy) (scary) singer I have ever heard. Why are people in North America generally (funny) (bad) (good) people in Asia? (fat) (good)
