Comparatives and Superlatives

They are use to compare two or more nouns. The formation of the comparative and superlative depends on the number of syllables in the adjective. An adjective is a word or phrase that is used to describe a noun or pronoun.

Comparative

When we use an adjective to compare two things, we add "er" to the end of the adjective if it is short, and we say  "more" or "less" before the adjective if it is long.

One- syllable adjectives: add -er to the adjective

• My sister is much taller than me.

One- syllable adjectives ending in -y: change the -y to -ier

• She's looking happier today.

Syllable adverbs ending in -y must be compared with the word more.

• I drive more quickly than my brother.

Adjectives with 3 or more syllables: use more with the unchanged adjective.

• Russian grammar is more difficult than English grammar.

Superlatives

When a thing is unique because it is the most or least of a particular quality, we add "est" to the adjective if it is short, and we say "most" or "least" before the adjective if it is long. Before all superlative adjectives, we say "the" because a superlative describes something unique.

One-syllable adjectives: add -est to the adjective (plus the)

• My sister is the tallest in our family.

Note: If the word ends: consonant-vowel-consonant, then the last consonant is usually doubled in the superlative. Examples: big-biggest, fat-fattest, hot-hottest.

Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y: change the -y to -iest (plus the)

• The richest people are not always the happiest.