{"id":619,"date":"2016-02-26T02:09:58","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T07:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/?page_id=619"},"modified":"2016-02-26T02:42:44","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T07:42:44","slug":"the-comparative-and-the-superlative","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/?page_id=619","title":{"rendered":"THE COMPARATIVE AND THE SUPERLATIVE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/?page_id=513\">English Grammar<\/a>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/?page_id=594\">Adjectives<\/a><\/p>\n<p>COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES<\/p>\n<p>Comparative adjectives are used to compare differences between the two objects they modify (<em>larger, smaller, faster, higher<\/em>). They are used in sentences where two nouns are compared in this pattern:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The second item of comparison can be omitted if it is clear from the context (final example below).<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>My house is <strong>larger<\/strong> than hers.<\/li>\n<li>This box is <strong>smaller<\/strong> than the one I lost.<\/li>\n<li>Your dog runs <strong>faster<\/strong> than Jim&#8217;s dog.<\/li>\n<li>The rock flew <strong>higher<\/strong> than the roof.<\/li>\n<li>Jim and Jack are both my friends, but I like Jack <strong>better<\/strong>. (&#8220;than Jim&#8221; is understood)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES<\/p>\n<p>Superlative adjectives are used to describe an object which is at the upper or lower limit of a quality <em>(the tallest, the smallest, the fastest, the highest<\/em>). They are used in sentences where a subject is compared to a group of objects.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Noun (subject) + verb + the superlative adjective + noun (object).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The group that is being compared with can be omitted if it is clear from the context (final example below).<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>My house is <strong>the largest<\/strong> one in our neighborhood.<\/li>\n<li>This is <strong>the smallest<\/strong> box I&#8217;ve ever seen,<\/li>\n<li>Your dog ran <strong>the fastest<\/strong> of any dog in the race.<\/li>\n<li>We all threw our rocks at the same time. My rock flew <strong>the highest<\/strong>. (&#8220;of all the rocks&#8221; is understood)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>FORMING REGULAR COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES<\/p>\n<p>Forming comparatives and superlatives is easy. The form depends on the number of syllables in the original adjective.<\/p>\n<p>ONE SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES<\/p>\n<p>Add &#8211;<em>er<\/em> for the comparative and &#8211;<em>est<\/em> for the superlative. If the adjective has a <strong>consonant + single vowel + consonant spelling<\/strong>, the final consonant must be doubled before adding the ending.<\/p>\n<style><!--\n.demo { border:1px solid #C0C0C0; border-collapse:collapse; padding:5px; } .demo th { border:1px solid #C0C0C0; padding:5px; background:#F0F0F0; } .demo td { border:1px solid #C0C0C0; padding:5px; }\n--><\/style>\n<table class=\"demo\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Adjective<\/th>\n<th>Comparative<\/th>\n<th>Superlative<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0tall<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0taller<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0tallest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0fat<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0fatter<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0fattest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0big<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0bigger<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0biggest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0sad<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0sadder<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0saddest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>TWO SYLLABLES<\/p>\n<p>Adjectives with two syllables can form the comparative either by adding &#8211;<em>er<\/em> or by preceeding the adjective with <em>more<\/em>. These adjectives form the superlative either by adding &#8211;<em>est<\/em> or by preceeding the adjective with <em>most<\/em>. In many cases, both forms are used, although one usage will be more common than the other. If you are not sure whether a two-syllable adjective can take a comparative or superlative ending, play if safe and use <em>more<\/em> and <em>most<\/em> instead. For adjectives ending in <em>y<\/em>, change the<em> y<\/em> to an <em>i<\/em> before adding the ending.<\/p>\n<table class=\"demo\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Adjective<\/th>\n<th>Comparative<\/th>\n<th>Superlative<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0happy<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0happier<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0happiest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0simple<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0simpler<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0simplest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0busy<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0busier<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0busiest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0tilted<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0more tilted<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0most tilted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0tangled<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0more tangled<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0most tangled<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>THREE OR MORE SYLLABLES<\/p>\n<p>Adjectives with three or more syllables form the comparative by putting <em>more<\/em> in front of the adjective, and the superlative by putting <em>most<\/em> in front.<\/p>\n<table class=\"demo\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Adjective<\/th>\n<th>Comparative<\/th>\n<th>Superlative<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0important<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0more important<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0most important<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0expensive<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0more expensive<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0most expensive<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>IRREGULAR COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES<\/p>\n<p>These very common adjectives have completely irregular comparative and superlative forms.<\/p>\n<style><!--\n.demo {\nborder:1px solid #C0C0C0;\nborder-collapse:collapse;\npadding:5px;\n}\n.demo th {\nborder:1px solid #C0C0C0;\npadding:5px;\nbackground:#F0F0F0;\n}\n.demo td {\nborder:1px solid #C0C0C0;\npadding:5px;\n}\n--><\/style>\n<table class=\"demo\">\n<caption>\u00a0<\/caption>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Adjective<\/th>\n<th>Comparative<\/th>\n<th>Superlative<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0good<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0better<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0best<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0bad<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0worse<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0worst<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0little<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0less<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0least<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0much<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0more<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0most<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0far<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0further\/farther<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0furthest\/farthest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Today is the <strong>worst<\/strong> day I&#8217;ve had in a long time.<\/li>\n<li>You play tennis <strong>better<\/strong> than I do.<\/li>\n<li>This is the <strong>least<\/strong> expensive sweater in the store.<\/li>\n<li>This sweater is <strong>less<\/strong> expensive than that one.<\/li>\n<li>I ran pretty far yesterday, but I ran even <strong>farther<\/strong> today.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>English Grammar\u00a0&gt;\u00a0Adjectives COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES Comparative adjectives are used to compare differences between the two objects they modify (larger, smaller, faster, higher). They are used in sentences where two nouns are compared in this pattern:&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-619","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=619"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":629,"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/619\/revisions\/629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}