We must know what the comparatives and superlatives are because they are an essential part of our speech. We use these structures with hyperboles, comparisons, and various other grammatical resources. If you want to learn how to differentiate nouns, how to detect similarities, and highlight qualities, then you need to learn them.
Imagine that you are traveling across the planet, and someone asks for an opinion about someplace while they compare with another, you need to understand how those comparisons work. If you want to do that, then come take a look at the rules of the “comparatives and superlatives”.
These are the comparatives
As their name mentions it, we use this structure to compare two things or people, as far as qualities goes.
- Their grammar structure is the following:
Subject + verb + adjective in comparative grade (you will see in the next part why we call it grade) + than (a preposition that connects words) + another object or subject B.
EXAMPLE:
Andrés is smaller than juan
Your dog runs faster than Luis’s dog
What is an adjective in comparative grade?
An adjective as we know, is a word that describes a characteristic about something or someone.
This grammatical structure changes when we are comparing the qualities of two objects or subjects, and we can see the changes and even hear them. How does this structure change in comparative?
It is an easy process, we are going to add the suffix ER at the end of the adjectives that have one syllable, if they have two or more than three syllables, we will use the preposition “more”.
Comparative structure use
We will show you some examples so you can see how the structure is used.
. Short (is a one-syllable adjective).
In a comparative form, the adjective short becomes “shorter”.
. Tasty (is a two-syllable adjective).
In a comparative form, the adjective tasty becomes “tastier”. When an adjective ends with “y” we grab the y and change it with an “i”.
Let’s look at Expensive. This is an adjective that has 3 syllables.
In comparative form, Expensive becomes “more expensive”.
In a comparative form, Expensive becomes “more expensive”.
Intelligent. This is an adjective that has 4 syllables.
In a comparative form, Intelligent becomes “more intelligent”.
Now comes the turn of the superlatives
The superlative is used to highlight the characteristics of an object, person or animal, and what makes it different or special from the group that it is in. That highlighted quality is above everyone else’s qualities, whether it is in a positive or a negative manner.
This is how the superlative structure is used:
Subject + verb + the (connecting article) + adjective in superlative grade + object or subject B (it can also be indeterminate).
Let’s look at some examples:
Jeff Bezos is the richest person in the world.
I am the oldest member of my family.
Margarita is the nicest pizza on the menu.
Just as there are adjectives for the comparatives, there are also adjectives for the superlatives
Just like the grammar structure of the comparatives, when we use the adjectives in superlative form, they will also have a slight change.
In this case, we are going to add the suffix “est” when the adjective has less than 3 syllables. For those adjectives that have more than 3 syllables we will use the preposition “the most”, followed by the adjective.
EXAMPLE:
High → “highest”.
Beautiful (three syllable adjective) → “The most beautiful”.
Here are some more examples of adjectives that are short (1 syllable) and large (more than 3 syllables) that are both in comparative and superlative form
There are also some irregular adjectives that change in comparative and superlative form, and you should learn them
These irregular adjectives do not follow normal rules. They have a completely different structure, and in some occasions, they change completely depending on each structure.
Here are some examples:
| ADJECTIVE | COMPARATIVE | SUPERLATIVE |
| Good | Much | Best |
| Bad | Worse | Worst |
| Little | Less | Least |
| Much | More | Most |
EXAMPLES:
Your pain is worse than mine
He is the least worried about the game
That was the best movie ever
That is all for now when it comes to comparatives and superlatives. If you have any more questions then you can contact us, and we will gladly guide you and support you with anything you need. Take your English to the next level with B1b2. Good luck!