There are four main word forms in English: Adjectives | Nouns| Verbs | Adverbs. Each word form then has other ‘types’ within that form. For example:
There are quite a few other adjectival forms, but we will save them for another day and another blog entry. This entry is about two very specific types of adjectives which are: Comparatives and Superlatives.
Comparative adjectives are used in English when we want to compare only two different things. They are very common and are therefore very useful to learn and to use ‘correctly’. I say ‘correctly’, because a lot of students know about and have some experience with comparatives, however, I am quite often ‘fixing’ them even with my advanced students.
First you must ask yourself, ‘How many things am I comparing?‘ If you are comparing only two things then you must use a comparative, if it’s three of more, then it must be a superlative (see below).
You then need to decide if the Adjective you are using is either one syllable, two syllables ending in ‘y’, or 2 or more syllables. The forms for each type are in the image.
Superlative adjectives are used in English when we want to compare three or more different things. Just like comparative adjectives, superlatives are very common in English and are an area where students make small ‘silly’ mistakes.
First you must ask yourself, ‘How many things am I comparing?‘ If you are comparing only two things then you must use a comparative (see above), if it’s three of more, then it must be a superlative.
You then need to decide if the Adjective you are using is either one syllable, two syllables ending in ‘y’, or 2 or more syllables. The forms for each type are in the image.
Try to avoid saying ‘more’ or ‘most’ every time you use comparatives or superlatives. Although native English speakers will understand what you are saying it is a bad habit to get into and you will sound much more fluent if you don’t make this mistake. We also have some irregular adjectives which are:
Good Better Best
Bad Worse Worst
Far Further Furthest
Much More the Most
Little Less the Least