When comparing two things / people or two groups of things / people, we use a comparative form of the adjective or adverb.
The trees are taller than our house. There're very tall.
The red car is faster than the blue one. The blue car is slower.
These bags are larger than those. Those are quite small.
The yellow flowers are much nicer. They're fresher too.
We use the word more + adjective (+ than):
I think Elizabeth is more beautiful than Mary. Elizabeth is lovely.
The exhibition was more interesting this year than last year. Last year was boring.
This camera is a more expensive model. The other was cheaper.
John is more handsome than Steve but Steve is more intelligent.
The heat is more suffocating here than in Miami. But Miami is hot too.
Two syllable adjectives that end in "y", change the "y" to "i" + "er" (+ than):
It's a prettier dress than mine. Mine isn't very pretty.
I'm happier now than I was a year ago. Before I was a little depressed.
The film was funnier this week. Last week the film wasn't funny.
A superlative compares a thing / person or group of things / people with all the rest. The structure is exactly the same as the comparative but we use the most or the adjectives take the + adjective + "est":
Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales. You can see a long way from the top.
This is the cleanest hotel I have stayed in. It's impeccable.
Melissa is the youngest student in the class. She's only 14.
This is the most fascinating book I've read. I love it.
The sofa is the most comfortable in the house. It's the most expensive too.
This exam is the most important. I must pass it.
Luke is the luckiest person I know. He has everything.
The summer holidays are the happiest time of year for me. I have a very good time.
The Life of Brian is the funniest film I've ever seen. I laughed all the time.
Sometimes, adjectives of two syllables can take the "er / est" or the "more / most" forms:
She's cleverer / more clever than I am. She passes exams without studying.
My dog is the cleverest / the most clever animal I know. He's so intelligent.
Tom Cruise is handsomer / more handsome than Sean Connery. Sean is quite old now.
Tom Cruise isn't the handsomest / the most handsome actor. I think Brad Pitt is.
The full list of adjectives that can be used in both forms are: common, cruel, handsome, pleasant, polite, stupid, tired, wicked and words that end in "le", "ow" and "er":
Mary is the gentlest / the most gentle person I have ever met.
He's politer / more polite now he has got married.
Note that we double the last consonant if the adjective ends in consonant + vowel + consonant:
big - bigger - the biggest
hot - hotter - the hottest
Most "ly" adverbs only take the more / the most forms:
He drives more quickly when he's angry. He drives more slowly when he's calm.
I speak English more fluently when I drink a beer or two.
I think she argued the most intelligently.
However, there are a few common adverbs that take the "er / est" forms: fast, soon, early, late, hard, long, well, far, near, (often can take both forms but more / most often are more common). In informal spoken English, slow, loud and quick can take the "er /est" form:
We work faster during the morning. Later we get tired.
I finished sooner that I expected.
Mary always arrives the latest.
Less is used as a negative comparative with adjectives and adverbs:
He's less certain of his ideas since he went to University.
My teacher speaks English less fluently than she used to.
Least is used as the negative superlative:
John is the least intelligent of the class.
He studies the least often.
We do not say gooder / the goodest. The comparative and superlative of good is better / the best. Here are some more irregular adjectives and adverbs:
bad - worse - the worst
well - better - the best
far - farther / further - the farthest / the furthest*
little, not much (quantity) - less - the least
He's the worst student in the class. He studies the least.
The Stones sing better than the Beatles. The Stones are the best.
The film was less interesting than the book.
*both comparative and superlative forms of far are used in British English (Madrid is farther / further than Barcelona) but in US English only farther is possible to talk about distance. Further is often used to mean more in a more formal English:
I require further farther information.
When we talk about equal quality, we use the structure: as + adjective/adverb + as:
John is as tall as Mary.
I'm not as intelligent as she is.
The boys didn't do the exam as well as the girls (did).
We can use the negative form too:
The new sofa isn't as comfortable as the old one (was).
The new version doesn't work as efficiently as the previous one (did).
There is an interesting case with loud and loudly. Both are accepted as an adverb in the comparisons of equality structure:
The band don't play their music as loud/loudly as they used to.
I shouted as loud/loudly as I could.
You can see from the examples in this section that the auxiliary or verb to be may often be omitted at the end of the sentence. When the subject or object is a personal pronoun, the sense is much more formal when we omit the auxiliary:
He was not as clever as she (was).
She wouldn't do the job as well as I (would).
The sentence sounds much more colloquial if we use an object personal pronoun at the end. (Also see below...)
He was not as clever as her.
She wouldn't do the job as well as me.
We can use comparative forms to compare changing situations. The definite article the is used with the comparative here:
The more he does it the more I like it.
The more difficult it gets the harder you must try.
The less work you do now the harder it will be in the future.
Instead of comparing two situations, we can say one situation is changing:
He's more and more depressed every day.
They're talking to each other less and less. It's very sad.
In more formal English we prefer the subject personal pronoun in comparative forms at the places underlined:
Mary is as tall as I am.
He is better at English than she is.
They've got a faster car than I have.
She does it more quietly than he does.
If we omit the auxiliary at the end, the sentence sounds too formal for many situations. This is often seen in literary English:
Mary is as tall as I.
Colloquial and informal written English allow the object personal pronoun:
Mary is as tall as me.
He is better at English than her.
Which form should you use for everyday speech and writing? Perhaps it is better to adopt the subject pronoun + auxiliary form in your informal spoken dialogue. This version is also suitable for Cambridge English exam texts, for example. Some people consider the object pronoun form too informal or even incorrect.
Exercises on comparatives and superlatives...
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