Adjectives are words that describe nouns.

They There are three degrees of comparison:

have the same form in all genders in the singular Positive – Comparative – Superlative
and plural.
We use the comparative degree when we compare
Adjectives are placed: two people, animals or things.
 before nouns. Emma is taller than Ann.
Lisa is a happy girl. Ann is more beautiful than Emma.

 after the verbs: be, look, feel, smell, taste, We use the superlative degree when we compare
seem, sound, appear… one person, animal or thing with several others of
Your cake looks good. the same kind.
Susan is the cleverest girl in class.
 after nouns that show measurement. This is the most interesting book of the three.
He’s 1.70 metres tall.

When several adjectives describe the same noun, they appear in the following order:

determiner opinion size age shape colour origin material purpose noun

a beautiful small old rectangular red French wooden jewellery box

Short adjectives
We form their comparative by adding –er and their superlative by adding –est to the positive form.
 one-syllable adjectives old older the oldest
 two-syllable adjectives ending in –y pretty prettier the prettiest
Betty is older than Peter. Kelly is the prettiest girl is the class.

Long adjectives
We form their comparative with more and their superlative with most before the positive form.
 two-syllable adjectives not ending in –y modern more modern the most modern
 adjectives with three or more syllables dangerous more dangerous the most
dangerous
Tigers are more dangerous than elephants. This is the most modern building of the city.

There are some two-syllable adjectives that can form the comparative with –er or more and the superlative
with –est or most: quiet, simple, clever, gentle, friendly, narrow…
clever cleverer / more clever cleverest / most clever

 Adjectives ending in consonant + y change Positive

the –y to –i before the –er/-est. Comparative
good Superlative
happy happier happiest better
bad best
BUT shy shyer shyest worse
little worst
less
 One syllable adjectives ending in one vowel much / many more
least
+ one consonant double the final
consonant before the –er/-est. far most
farther / further
big bigger biggest old farthest / furthest
older / elder
We use elder and eldest
oldestwhen we refer to members of the same
/ eldest
 Adjectives ending in –e take only –r/-st. family. They are never followed by than.
 We use than after the comparative and of or in after the superlative degree.
nice nicer nicest He is my elder brother. BUT My brother is older than me.
 We use the definite article the before adjectives in the superlative degree.
 We can use than + object pronoun or than + subject + verb in the comparative degree.
Sam is taller than me.
Sam is taller than I am.
  less + adjective + than, in the comparative degree. It is the opposite of more … than.
Susan is less clever than Anne.

 the least + adjective + of / in, in the superlative degree. It is the opposite of the most … of.
This hotel is the least expensive in town.

 as + adjective + as shows that two people or things have a quality in the same degree.
Sue is as old as Betty.
My car is as fast as yours.

 not as / so + adjective + as shows that two people or things have a quality in different
degrees.
My brother is not as tall as yours.
Oxford is not so crowded as London.

Write the words in the correct order to make Write the adjectives in brackets in the correct
sentences. order.

1. man / a / heavy / is / box / old / the / carrying 1. Andrew always has a bath with his (rubber / yellow /

POSITIVE
_______________________________________ cute) duck.
COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
2. music / nice / that / sounds __________________________________________
2. We are looking for a (round / kitchen / small) table.
_______________________________________
___________________________________________
3. short
river / 900 / long / is / kilometres / this ___________________ ___________________
3. My grandfather has got a (wooden / antique / Swiss)
_______________________________________
___________________ fatter clock. ___________________
4. TV / an / there / interesting / on / film / is
___________________________________________
far
_______________________________________ ___________________ ___________________
4. I put the flowers in a (high / glass / blue) vase.
5. cake / this / delicious / tastes
___________________ ___________________________________________
___________________ the best
_______________________________________ 5. They are singing some (traditional / English / beautiful)
6. young /___________________
is / my / very / today / happy / sister less clevercarols. ___________________
_______________________________________ ___________________________________________
cheap ___________________ ___________________
7. is / Jim’s / metres / 4 / swimming pool / deep 6. The cat is playing with a (volleyball / huge / yellow)
___________________
_______________________________________ more beautiful
ball. ___________________
8. dirty / a /boy / wearing / the / pullover / is ___________________________________________
wet ___________________ ___________________
_______________________________________ 7. Pam has just bought a (leather / new / horrible) sofa.
9. we / to /___________________
restaurant / are / a / Chinese / going___________________
/? the smallest
___________________________________________

_______________________________________ 8. The food was served in a (Japanese /round / small)

___________________ worse ___________________
10. white / looks / that / dangerous / dog bowl.
pretty
_______________________________________ ___________________ ___________________
___________________________________________

___________________ ___________________ the least interesting

big ___________________ ___________________

Complete the blanks with the correct form of the adjectives.
___________________ more useful ___________________

free ___________________ ___________________

 Complete the sentences with the comparative Complete the sentences with the superlative
form of the adjectives in brackets. form of the adjectives in brackets.

1. An apple is ____________ a tomato. (sweet) 1. Basketball is _______________ sport in America. (popular)

2. My sister has a very big house. She is ____________ 2. Manchester is _______________ city in England. (wet)

me. (rich) 3. That is _______________ joke I’ve ever heard. (funny)

3. I like these old shoes. They are ____________ my new 4. What is ________________ thing you have ever done?

ones. (comfortable) (dangerous)

4. An elephant is ____________ a cat. (heavy) 5. Australia is ________________ island in the world. (big)

5. A computer is ____________ a typewriter. (expensive) 6. Pluto is _______________planet from the sun. (far)

6. A plane is ____________ a train. (fast) 7. Sandra is ______________ student in her class. (good)

7. Let’s go to the beach. It is ____________ the office on 8. Mont Blanc is _______________ mountain in Europe. (high)

a hot day. (nice) 9. Paris is _______________ city Ann has ever visited.

8. AEROPLANE
Today the weather is ____________ yesterday. (bad) (beautiful) SPACECRAFT
HELICOPTER
9. Africa is ____________ Greenland. (hot) 10. This is _______________ place I have ever seen. (dirty)

10. This exercise is____________ the next one. (easy)

Write sentences to compare the three vehicles, as in the example. Use the comparative and the
superlative degrees and other forms of comparison.

Made: 15 years ago Made: 15 years ago Made: 5 years ago

Weight: 20 tons Weight: 3 tons Weight: 84 tons
Speed: 700 kph Speed: 400 kph Speed: 40.000 kph
Passengers capacity: 200 people Passengers capacity: 4 people
Passengers capacity: 4 people
1. the helicopter / old / the spacecraft The helicopter is older than the spacecraft.
2. the aeroplane / heavy / the helicopter __________________________________________________
3. the helicopter / slow / of all __________________________________________________________
4. the spacecraft / carry / few passengers / the aeroplane _____________________________________
5. the aeroplane / fast / helicopter ______________________________________________________
6. the spacecraft / heavy / of all __________________________________________________________
7. the aeroplane / old / the helicopter ____________________________________________________
8. the aeroplane / carry / many passengers / of all ___________________________________________
9. the spacecraft / old / the helicopter ____________________________________________________
10. the helicopter / carry / many passengers / the spacecraft ___________________________________
11. the spacecraft / fast / of all __________________________________________________________
12. the helicopter / heavy / the spacecraft _______________________________________________

Look at the boxes. Write sentences using as … as or not as / so … as, as in the example.

1. the library / big / the gymnasium The library is as big as the gymnasium

2. the sandwich / tasty / the hamburger The sandwich isn’t as / so tasty as the hamburger

3. grandmother / old / grandfather ____________________________________________

4. the café / crowded / the hotel ____________________________________________

5. the ring / expensive / the earrings ____________________________________________

6. the dog / intelligent / the monkey ____________________________________________

7. February / long / September ____________________________________________

8. James / tall / Richard ____________________________________________

ANSWER KEY

1 1. The old man is carrying a heavy box. 2 1. cute yellow rubber

2. That music sounds nice. 2. small round kitchen
3. This river is 900 kilometres long. 3. antique Swiss wooden
4. There is an interesting film on TV. 4. high blue glass
5. This cake tastes delicious. 5. beautiful traditional English
6. My young sister is very happy today. 6. huge yellow volleyball
7. Jim’s swimming pool is 4 metres deep. 7. horrible new leather
8. The boy is wearing a dirty pullover. 8. small round Japanese
9. Are we going to a Chinese restaurant?
10. That white dog looks dangerous.
 3
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
short shorter the shortest
fat fatter the fattest
far farther/further the farthest/furthest
good better the best
clever less clever the least clever
cheap cheaper the cheapest
beautiful more beautiful the most beautiful
wet wetter the wettest
small smaller the smallest
bad worse the worst
pretty prettier the prettiest
interesting more interesting the least interesting
big bigger the biggest
useful more useful the most useful
free freer the freest

4 1. sweeter than 1. the most popular

2. richer than 5 2. the wettest
3. more comfortable than 3. the funniest
4. heavier than 4. the most dangerous
5. more expensive than 5. the biggest
6. faster than 6. the farthest / furthest
7. nicer than 7. the best
8. worse than 8. the highest
9. hotter than 9. the most beautiful
10. easier than 10. the dirtiest

2. the aeroplane is heavier than the helicopter 7

3. the helicopter is the slowest of all
3. grandmother is as old as grandfather
4. the spacecraft carries fewer passengers than the aeroplane
4. the café is not as/so crowded as the hotel
5. the aeroplane is faster than helicopter 5. the ring is not as/so expensive as the earrings
6. the dog is as intelligent as the monkey
6. the spacecraft is the heaviest of all
7. February is not/so long as September
7. the aeroplane is as old as the helicopter 8. Jim is as tall as Richard.
8. the aeroplane carries the most passengers of all
9. the spacecraft is not as/so old as the helicopter
10. the helicopter carries as many passengers as the spacecraft
11. the spacecraft is the fastest of all
12. the helicopter is not as/so heavy as the spacecraft