Comparative Adjectives
Comparative adjectives are used to compare one noun to another noun. In these instances, only two items are being
compared. For example, someone might say that "the blue car is better than the red."
My house is bigger than yours.
Your grade is worse than mine.
The Pacific Ocean is deeper than the Arctic Ocean.
You are more polite than Jackie.
My brother is taller than I am, but he is older too.
A rose is more beautiful than a daisy.
The Earth is larger than the moon.
A pint is less than a quart.
Learning Japanese is more difficult than learning English.
It's farther from New York to Austin than it is from New York to Nashville.
John is 1m80. He is tall. But Chris is 1m85. He is taller than John.
America is big. But Russia is bigger.
I want to have a more powerful computer.
Is French more difficult than English?
Adjectives with one syllable
Usually if an adjective has only one syllable, we add 'er' to make the comparative form. We add 'est' to
make the superlative form.
clean → cleaner / cleanest
cold → colder / coldest
small → smaller / smallest
young → younger / youngest
tall → taller / tallest
There are some spelling changes. If there is one vowel followed by one consonant at the end of the
adjective, we often double the consonant.
wet → wetter
big → bigger
hot → hotter
thin → thinner
If the adjective ends in 'y', this often changes to 'i'.
dry → drier
If the adjective ends in 'e', we don't add another 'e', just 'r'.
nice → nicer
large → larger
There are a few adjectives that we have to use 'more' or 'most' with, even though they only have one
syllable. We CAN'T add 'er' or 'est'.
fun → more fun / most fun (NOT funner / funnest)
real → more real / most real (NOT realer / realest)
right → more right / most right (NOT righter / rightest)
wrong → more wrong / most wrong (NOT wronger / wrongest)
Adjectives with two syllables
For adjectives with two syllables we generally use 'more' or 'most'.
careful → more careful
bored → more bored
But some two syllable adjectives can take 'er' or 'est'. It's also fine to use 'more' (for the comparative) or
'most' (for the superlative).
clever → cleverer
simple → simpler
narrow → narrower
quiet → quieter
Adjectives with two syllables that end in 'y' usually can add 'er' or 'est' (y generally changes to i). It's also
fine to use 'more' or 'most'.
dirty → dirtier
pretty → prettier
happy → happier
ugly → uglier
Adjectives with more than two syllables can only make their comparative by using 'more' and their
superlative by using 'most'.
beautiful → more beautiful
intelligent → more intelligent
interesting → more interesting
expensive → more expensive
Irregular adjectives
There are also some irregular adjectives. We just need to learn these forms.
good → better
bad → worse
far → further or farther
little → less
much → more
Comparative Adjectives Exercise 1
Make the comparative form. If it’s possible, use ‘er’. If not, use ‘more’.
1. Dogs are _________________________________ (intelligent) than rabbits.
2. Lucy is _________________________________ (old) than Ellie.
3. Russia is far _________________________________ (large) than the UK.
4. My Latin class is _________________________________ (boring) than my English class.
5. In the UK, the streets are generally _________________________________ (narrow) than the streets in the USA.
6. London is _________________________________ (busy) than Glasgow.
7. Julie is _________________________________ (quiet) than her sister.
8. Amanda is _________________________________ (ambitious) than her classmates.
9. My garden is a lot _________________________________ (colorful) than this park.
10. His house is a bit _________________________________ (comfortable) than a hotel.
