Adjectives: comparative
Adjectives can have a comparative form. This form is used to compare people, things, actions and events.
When comparing two things, we usually use comparative adjective + ‘than’:
- Peter is taller than Mike.
- This city is more interesting than my hometown.
- Today I am happier than yesterday.
Rules for forming comparative adjectives
- To make comparative forms of one-syllable adjectives, add ‘-er’ to them (or ‘-r’, if the adjective ends in ‘-e’):
- New → My smartphone is newer than yours.
- Old → The population in this country is getting older.
- Close → Please come closer.
- If an adjective ends in one vowel and one consonant, double the consonant before ‘-er’:
- Big → An elephant is bigger than a car.
- Hot → It’s getting hotter outside.
- For two-syllable adjectives ending in ‘-y’, remove the ‘-y’ and add ‘-ier’:
- Early → I’ll probably take an earlier train.
- Friendly → Dogs are usually friendlier than cats.
- Some common short adjectives have irregular forms:
- Good → Kate was offered a better job.
- Bad → The weather today is worse than yesterday.
- Far → Germany is further from Belarus than Poland.
- To make comparative forms of long adjectives (three syllables and more), use ‘more’ + adjective + ‘than’:
- This meadow is more beautiful than the other one.
- This book is more interesting than I expected.
The opposite of ‘more’ is ‘less’. Use ‘less’ before adjectives with two syllables and more:
- For Peter, biology is less difficult than physics.
- Squats are less tiring than push-ups.
- To make a negative comparison, we can use ‘not as’ + adjective + ‘as’. We can also use the opposite word:
- For Peter, biology is not as difficult as physics.
- For Peter, biology is easier than physics.
- To emphasize a comparison, we can use modifiers like ‘a lot’, ‘much’, ‘a bit’, ‘slightly’, ‘far’ before comparative forms of adjectives:
- This house is much smaller than the other houses.
- A car is a lot more expensive than a bicycle.
- The plane looks slightly bigger than I expected.
- Your shoes are much more beautiful than mine.