Forming regular comparatives and superlatives

1. We use comparatives to compare two things or two people. (e.g She is taller than her husband.)

2. Superlatives are used, however, to compare to show the difference between more than two things or more than two people. (e.g Paris is the biggest city in France)

3. To form comparatives and superlatives you need to know the number of syllables in the adjective. Syllables are like "sound beats".

For instance:

"find" contains one syllable, but "finding" contains two — find and ing.

The rules to form comparatives and superlatives:

1. One syllable adjective ending in a silent 'e' — nice

Comparative — add 'r' — nicer Superlative — add 'st' — nicest

2. One syllable adjective ending in one vowel and one consonant — big

Comparative — the consonant is doubled and 'er' is added —bigger Superlative — the consonant is doubled and 'est' is added—biggest

3. One syllable adjective ending in more than one consonant or more than a vowel — high, cheap

Comparative — 'er' is added — higher, cheaper Superlative — 'est is added — highest, cheapest

4. A two syllable adjective ending in 'y' — happy

Comparative — 'y' becomes 'i' and 'er' is added — happier Superlative — 'y' becomes 'i' and 'est' is added — happiest

5. Tow syllable or more adjectives without 'y' at the end — exciting

Comparative — more + the adjective + than — more exciting than Superlative — more + the adjective + than — the most exciting 

Examples:

The Nile River is longer and more famous than the Thames. Egypt is much hotter than Sweden. Everest is the highest mountain in the world. This is one of the most exciting films I have ever seen.

Peter (6 years old) Charley (5 months old)Peter is older than Charley.

Charley is younger than Peter.

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

Adjectives Comparatives Superlativesbad worse worstfar(distance) farther farthestfar(extent) further furthestgood better bestlittle   less leastmany more mostmuch more most

How to use comparatives and superlatives

Comparatives SuperlativesComparatives are used to compare two things or two people:Alan is taller than John.

Superlatives are used to compare more than two things or two people. Superlative sentences usually use 'the':Alan is the most intelligent.

Similarities

To express similarities use the following structure:

... as + adjective + as ...

Examples:

Mike is as intelligent as Nancy. Larry is as popular as Oprah.

Put the adjectives between brackets in the correct form

1. My brother has a (tidy) tidier  room than me.2. Australia is (big) bigger  than England.3. I'm (good) better  now than yesterday.4. She's got (little) less  friends than you, but she doesn't care.5. He thinks Chinese is (difficult) the most difficult  language in the world.6. Valencia played (bad) worse  than Real Madrid yesterday.7. Cats are not (intelligent) as intelligent  as dogs.

8. Show me (good) the best  restaurant downtown.9. (hot) The hottest  desert of all is the Sahara and it's in Africa.10.Who is (talkative) the most talkative  person in your family?11.Fill in the gaps with the comparative form of the adjectives given.12. 1.  A rock is   than a leaf. (heavy)13. 2. Our house is  than yours. (big)14. 3. The princess is  than the witch. (beautiful)15. 4. Tom is a  student than Mary. (good)16. 5. Bicycles are  than motorbikes. (safe)17. 6. July is  than January. (hot)18. 7. A lion is  than a cat. (dangerous)19. 8. Helen is  than Mary. (happy)20. 9. Computers are  than telephones. (expensive)21. 10. I think golf is  than football. (boring)22.  23. Fill in the gaps with the superlative form of the adjectives

given.24.  25. 1. It is the  shop in town. (large)26. 2. Monday is the  day of the week. (bad)27. 3. Ben was the  person in his family. (noisy)28. 4. Sam is the in the  class. (popular)29. 5. Which is the  subject at school? (difficult)30. 6. Jim is the  player in the football team. (good)31. 7. Elephants are the  animals. (heavy)32. 8. Let's pick the  apple of the tree. (big)33. 9. Mary is the  girl in the class. (thin)34. 10. That is the  sofa in our house. (comfortable)35.  36. Fill in the gaps with the comparative or the superlative form

of the adjectives given.37.  38. 1. This armchair is  than the old one. (comfortable)39. 2. Trains are  than aeroplanes. (slow)40. 3. I bought the  souvenir I could afford. (expensive)41. 4. In this classroom there are  girls than boys. (many)

42. 5. Ann is the  child in the family. (young)43. 6. That TV set is the   of all. (cheap)44. 7. You are  here than there. (safe)45. 8. Fifi is  than Kate. (pretty)46. 9. This is the  film i have ever seen. (exciting)47. 10. Tim is   than Peter. (talented)