Comparatives and Superlatives: Making Comparisons

 Preview: Common Adjectives

A. -ER

We use comparatives to compare two things or two people. (e.g She is taller than her husband.) Superlatives are used, however, to show the difference between more than two things or more than two people. ( e.g Paris is the biggest city in France)

Ex: "tall" Juan is tall, but Mario is taller than Juan.

B. -EST

A superlative adjective compares three or more nouns and shows the noun with the highest degree. Ex:  "high"  Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

More Examples

RULES:

We use ‘-er’ to make the comparative and ‘-est’ to make the superlative.

I. Single Syllable Words and Double Syllable Words ending with -y, -er, -ow, -le –

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Black	Blacker	Blackest
Fair	Fairer	Fairest
Clever	Cleverer	Cleverest

II. When there is a silent ‘e’ at the end of the positive form, we remove that and add ‘-er’ and ‘-est’

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Nice	Nicer	Nicest
Late	Later	Latest

III. When the adjective ends with a ‘y’, we convert the ‘y’ into ‘i’ before adding ‘-er’ and ‘-est

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Pretty	Prettier	Prettiest
Lazy	Lazier	Laziest

IV.  If the adjective is a small one with little stress on the vowel, we double the last consonant.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Hot	Hotter	Hottest
Wet	Wetter	Wettest

V. Other Words with Two or More Syllables

For other double-syllable words that do not end with -y, -er, -ow, -le, and for adjectives with more than two syllables, we use more and most to form the comparatives and superlatives.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Difficult	More Difficult	Most Difficult
Careful	More Careful	Most Careful
Handsome	More Handsome	Most Handsome
Interesting	More Interesting	Most Interesting

V. (Irregular Comparisons)

These adjectives do not make their comparative and superlative forms using the rules above. Their comparative and superlative forms are different words altogether.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Bad	Worse	Worst
Good	Better	Best
Far (place & time)	Further	Furthest
Far (place)	Farther	Farthest
Old (people)	Elder	Eldest
Little (amount)	Less	Least
Late (order)	Latter	Last

VI. Dialogues

4 Beginner Conversations

Two Famous Cities in California

When does the weather get nice?

City and Country

Conversation Questions

VI. Games and Exercises

https://www.teach-this.com/grammar-activities-worksheets/comparatives

https://games4esl.com/comparative-and-superlative-activities/

https://busyteacher.org/14341-comparative-superlative-activities-how-to-teach.html