Degrees of Comparison

DEGREES OF COMPARISON
CONTENTS
Degrees of comparison of adjectives....................................... 3

1. Monosyllabic adjectives............................................................ 5
2. Disyllabic adjectives ................................................................. 5
3. Adjectives of three or more syllables ...................................... 7
Notes ......................................................................................... 8
4. Irregular adjectives .................................................................. 9
Note: "very" and "much" ..................................................... 10
3
Degrees of comparison of adjectives

Most descriptive adjectives can show degree of quality or quantity by
forming two degrees of comparison: the comparative degree and the
superlative degree. These degrees are formed from the positive degree, which
is the usual form of adjectives. The comparative and superlative forms can
be simple (bigger, biggest) or compound (more attentive, most attentive).
The comparative degree and the superlative degree are formed by adding the
suffixes ER and EST to the positive form of the adjective or by using MORE
and MOST before the positive form of the adjective. The choice of ER, EST
or MORE, MOST depends mostly on the number of syllables in the
adjective.
Positive degree: bright; important.

Comparative degree: brighter; more important.
Superlative degree: brightest; most important.
An adjective in the comparative or superlative form can stand before the

noun that it modifies or after the verb BE in the predicative. For example:
Try an easier exercise. This exercise is easier.
As a rule, the definite article is required before the superlative form of the
adjective: the nearest hospital; the largest room.
4
5
1. Monosyllabic adjectives
One-syllable adjectives form the comparative and superlative degrees by
adding the suffixes ER, EST: black, blacker, blackest; cheap, cheaper,
cheapest; clear, clearer, clearest; cold, colder, coldest; green, greener,
greenest; high, higher, highest; large, larger, largest; long, longer, longest;
loud, louder, loudest; new, newer, newest; nice, nicer, nicest; poor, poorer,
poorest; rich, richer, richest; short, shorter, shortest; slow, slower, slowest;
soft, softer, softest; sweet, sweeter, sweetest; tall, taller, tallest; tough,
tougher, toughest; warm, warmer, warmest; wise, wiser, wisest.
Anna is tall. Ella is taller than her sister. Maria is the tallest girl in her class.
Anatoly is older than Tatiana. Katya is the youngest of my students.
My house is smaller than your house. Your car is larger than mine. Moscow
is the largest city in Russia.
The highest peak in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro. The Himalayas are the
highest mountains in the world.
2. Disyllabic adjectives
Most two-syllable adjectives, including adjectives ending in the suffixes "al,
ant, ent, ish, ive, ic, ous, ful, less", form the comparative and superlative
degrees with the help of MORE, MOST: active, more active, most active;
careless, more careless, most careless; distant, more distant, most distant;
eager, more eager, most eager; famous, more famous, most famous; foolish,
more foolish, most foolish; formal, more formal, most formal; modern, more
modern, most modern; private, more private, most private; recent, more
recent, most recent; secure, more secure, most secure; tragic, more tragic,
most tragic; useful, more useful, most useful.
Laura is more selfish than Anita.
A more distant object seems to be smaller than a closer object.
The Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world.
6
Two-syllable adjectives ending in "y, er, ow" usually form the comparative
and superlative degrees by adding ER, EST: angry, angrier, angriest; busy,
busier, busiest; crazy, crazier, craziest; dirty, dirtier, dirtiest; easy, easier,
easiest; early, earlier, earliest; funny, funnier, funniest; happy, happier,
happiest; heavy, heavier, heaviest; lucky, luckier, luckiest; noisy, noisier,
noisiest; pretty, prettier, prettiest; silly, sillier, silliest; sunny, sunnier,
sunniest; ugly, uglier, ugliest; clever, cleverer, cleverest; narrow, narrower,
narrowest.
Your repair work will be much easier if you use a good set of tools.
My dog is the cleverest dog in the whole world.
The narrowest of the three tunnels leads to a small chamber under the engine
room.
Two-syllable adjectives ending in "y, er, ow" often have variants with
MORE, MOST: lazy, lazier / more lazy, laziest / most lazy; fancy, fancier /
more fancy, fanciest / most fancy; friendly, friendlier / more friendly,
friendliest / most friendly; lovely, lovelier / more lovely, loveliest / most
lovely; risky, riskier / more risky, riskiest / most risky; clever, cleverer / more
clever, cleverest / most clever; slender, slenderer / more slender, slenderest /
most slender; tender, tenderer / more tender, tenderest / most tender; shallow,
shallower / more shallow, shallowest / most shallow; yellow, yellower / more
yellow, yellowest / most yellow.
 The choice of ER, EST or MORE, MOST in the case of disyllabic

adjectives ending in "y, er, ow" depends to some extent on preferences
in usage, on what sounds better or more natural to an English speaker
in the given sentence. On the whole, variants formed with the help of
ER, EST are more traditional and more widely used than those with
MORE, MOST.
7
There are some other disyllabic adjectives which have variant forms with
ER, EST or MORE, MOST, for example, quiet, simple, stable, noble, gentle,
common, polite, pleasant, handsome. Though both variants are considered
correct, the following comparative and superlative forms seem to be more
frequently used for these adjectives at present: quieter, quietest; simpler,
simplest; gentler / more gentle, gentlest / most gentle; more stable, most
stable; more noble, most noble; more common, most common; more polite,
most polite; more pleasant, most pleasant; more handsome, most handsome.
These questions are simpler than those.

She is more polite than her sister.
3. Adjectives of three or more syllables

Adjectives consisting of three or more syllables form the comparative and
superlative degrees by using MORE, MOST before the adjective: beautiful,
more beautiful, most beautiful; comfortable, more comfortable, most
comfortable; curious, more curious, most curious; dangerous, more
dangerous, most dangerous; difficult, more difficult, most difficult;
expensive, more expensive, most expensive; important, more important,
most important; intelligent, more intelligent, most intelligent; interesting,
more interesting, most interesting; successful, more successful, most
successful.
This book is interesting.

This book is more interesting than that one.
This book is the most interesting of all the books that I have read recently.
This is the most interesting book I have ever read.
John has a difficult task.
My task is more difficult than John's task.
8
I have a more difficult task.

The most difficult task will be discussed tomorrow.
The accident, bad enough in itself, resulted in an even more terrible event.
Notes
1. The comparative degree indicates one of two objects, while the superlative
degree singles out one of three or more objects. Compare these examples:
Alex is strong. Tom is stronger than Alex. Tom is the stronger of the two boys.
Alex, Tom, and John are strong. John is the strongest of the three boys. John
is the strongest in his class.
Gina is more attentive than Ella. Gina is the more attentive of the two girls.
Vera is the most attentive pupil in my English class.
2. MOST + adjective is not always the superlative degree. MOST may have
the meaning "very, extremely, highly". In such cases, a singular noun is used
with the indefinite article, and a plural noun is used without an article. In this
meaning of MOST, monosyllabic and disyllabic adjectives are used with
MOST.
She is a most beautiful woman. Yesterday I had a most strange

They are most interesting people. dream.
I'm most pleased to see you here.
In most of such cases, the meaning will be clearer if you use "very" instead
of "most": a very beautiful woman; very interesting people; a very strange
dream; very pleased.
9
4. Irregular adjectives
Several adjectives have irregular forms of the comparative and superlative
degrees: good, better, best; bad, worse, worst; many/much, more, most; little,
less (lesser), least; far, farther, farthest; far, further, furthest. "Less" can be
an adjective or an adverb; "lesser" is only an adjective; "farther, farthest"
refer to distance; "further, furthest" refer to distance in time or addition.
The hotel was better than we expected. This is the best layer cake I've ever
had.
His health is becoming worse. Her examination paper was the worst in class.
I bought many books. Mike bought more books than I did. Nick bought the
most books.
I don't have much work today. Mike has more work than I do. Nick has the
most work to do today.
He spent less money than you. She has the least time of all of them.
All of them are suffering from an allergy, to a greater or lesser degree.
Choose the lesser of two evils.
His house is farther down the street. It is the farthest house on the opposite
side of the street.
I have no further questions. Further information can be obtained at our
office.
The adjective "less" is used with uncountable nouns; the adjective "fewer" is
used with plural countable nouns.
He has less time than she does. She has fewer books than he does.
The adjectives "ill" and "well" (referring to health) have the same
comparative and superlative forms as the adjectives "bad" and "good": ill,
worse, worst; well, better, best.
Is he well? Is he ill? He felt worse yesterday. He feels better today.
10
Note: "very" and "much"

"Very" is used with the positive degree of adjectives and adverbs. For
example:
It was very warm yesterday. He was very serious. This film is very
interesting. He will do it very quickly.
"Much" is used with the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs. For
example:
It is much warmer today. He was much more serious at that time. This film
is much more interesting than that film. He will do it much more quickly next
time.
"Very" may be used with the superlative degree of some adjectives (for
example, best, worst, first, last) to emphasize the superlative adjective: the
very best quality; on the very first day.

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DEGREES OF COMPARISON

Degrees of comparison of adjectives....................................... 3

Degrees of comparison of adjectives

Positive degree: bright; important.

An adjective in the comparative or superlative form can stand before the

 The choice of ER, EST or MORE, MOST in the case of disyllabic

These questions are simpler than those.

3. Adjectives of three or more syllables

This book is interesting.

I have a more difficult task.

She is a most beautiful woman. Yesterday I had a most strange

Note: "very" and "much"

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