Adjectives: Comparative and Superlative

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Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

1. Jeremy is 10 years old. Jenny is 8 years old. Jeremy is (old) ____________ ______ Jenny.
2. The Alps are very high. They are (high) _____ _______________ mountains in Europe.
3. An ocean is (large) ____________ _______ a sea.
4. A Rolls Royce costs a lot of money. A Twingo costs less.
   A Rolls Royce is (expensive) _______ ________________ _____ a Twingo.
5. John’s results were bad. Fred’s were very poor. Fred’s results were (bad) __________ _____ John’s.
6. This exercise is not very difficult. It’s ____________ ______ I expected.
7. The weather is not good today. It’s raining. I hope the weather will be (good) _____________ next week.
8. People are not very friendly in big cities. They are usually (friendly) ________________ in small towns.
9. In the government of a country, the President is (important) _____ ______ _______________ person.
10. People say that Chinese is (difficult) ______ ____________ to learn than English.

Comparative Adjectives Test 3

1. I am ________ my brother.
a) taller than
b) the tallest

2. She is ________ student in her class. 
a) younger than
b) the younger
c) the youngest

3. The dog is ________ the cat.
a) the older than
b) older than
c) the oldest

4. The red jacket is ________ the blue jacket. 
a) expensiver than
b) more expensive than
c) the most expensive

5. My mother is ________ in her family.
a) the shorter
b) the shorter than
c) the shortest

6. I like sushi, but Chinese food is ________.
a) better
b) the better
c) more better
c) the bestest

7. My drink is ________ of all the drinks.
a) colder than
b) the coldest
c) the most cold

8. My sister is ________ student in her class.
a) smarter than
b) the smarter
c) the most smart
d) the smartest

9. Those books are ________ than the other books.
a) expensiver than
b) more expensive than
c) most expensive than
d) the most expensive

10. Her brother is ________ soccer player on his team.
a) the better
b) better than
c) the most good
d) the best

The comparison of adjectives 2

B – Comparison with more – most

positive	comparative	superlative
difficult	more difficult	(the) most difficult

all adjectives with more than one syllable (except some adjectives with two syllables – see
2 – 1 to 2 – 4)

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C – Irregular adjectives

positive	comparative	superlative	comment
good	better	best
bad	worse	worst
much	more	most	uncountable nouns
many	more	most	countable nouns
little	less	least
little	smaller	smallest

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D – Special adjectives

Some adjectives have two possible forms of comparison (-er/est and more/most).

positive	comparative	superlative
clever	cleverer / more clever	cleverest / most clever
common	commoner / more common	commonest / most common
likely	likelier / more likely	likeliest / most likely
pleasant	pleasanter / more pleasant	pleasantest / most pleasant
polite	politer / more polite	politest / most polite
quiet	quieter / more quiet	quietest / most quiet
simple	simpler / more simple	simplest / most simple
stupid	stupider / more stupid	stupidest / most stupid
subtle	subtler / more subtle	subtlest / most subtle
sure	surer / more sure	surest / most sure

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E – Difference in meaning with adjectives:

positive	comparative	superlative	comment
far	farther	farthest	distance
	further	furthest	distance or time
late	later	latest
	latter	x
	x	last
old	older	oldest	people and things
	elder	eldest	people (family)
near	nearer	nearest	distance
	x	next	order

Comparison of adjectives1

Fill in the missing words into the gaps.

There are three forms of comparison:

– positive
– comparative
– superlative

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A – Comparison with -er/-est

clean – cleaner – (the) cleanest

We use -er/-est with the following adjectives:

1) Adjectives with one syllable

positive	comparative	superlative
clean	cleaner	cleanest
new	newer	newest
cheap	cheaper	cheapest

2) Adjectives with two syllables and the following endings:

2 – 1) Adjectives with two syllables, ending in -y

positive	comparative	superlative
dirty	dirtier	dirtiest
easy	easier	easiest
happy	happier	happiest
pretty	prettier	prettiest

2 – 2) Adjectives with two syllables, ending in -er

positive	comparative	superlative
clever	cleverer	cleverest

2 – 3) Adjectives with two syllables, ending in -le

positive	comparative	superlative
simple	simpler	simplest

2 – 4) Adjectives with two syllables, ending in -ow

positive	comparative	superlative
narrow	narrower	narrowest

3) Spelling of the adjectives using the endings -er/-est

positive	comparative	superlative	comment
large	larger	largest	leave out the silent -e
big	bigger	biggest	Double the consonant after short vowel
sad	sadder	saddest
dirty	dirtier	dirtiest	Change -y to -i (consonant before -y)
shy	shyer	shyest	Here -y is not changed to -i. (although consonant before -y)