Comparison - Easy Learning Grammar

The comparative form of an adjective is commonly used to compare two people, things, or states, when you want to say that one thing has a larger or smaller amount of a quality than another.

If the second part of the comparison is mentioned it follows than.

Anna is taller than Mary but Mary is older.
Emma is much slimmer than when I last saw her.
Online learning is less expensive than conventional college courses.

Comparison in which you are considering whether two people or things are equal is shown by using as…as in the affirmative and not as…as or not so…as in the negative.

Helen is as tall as Linda, but not as strong.

The superlative form is used for more than two people, things, or states, when one thing has qualities that exceed all the others. Superlative adjectives have the in front of them, but it can be omitted in predicative positions.

That is the smallest camera I have ever seen.
He gave the least expensive gift to his sister.
I’ll have whichever is (the) ripest.

There are two ways in which the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are formed:

You add -er (comparative) or -est (superlative) to the adjective. Adjectives with one syllable usually take these endings.

	comparative	superlative
bright	brighter	the brightest
long	longer	the longest
sharp	sharper	the sharpest

If the word already ends in -e, the -e must be left off. If a word ends in -y, it usually takes -er or -est, and the -y changes to -i.

	comparative	superlative
wise	wiser	the wisest
pretty	prettier	the prettiest
weary	wearier	the weariest

You add the word more or most in front of the adjective. Adjectives with three syllables or more use more or most in front of the adjective.

	comparative	superlative
fortunate	more fortunate	the most fortunate
relevant	more relevant	the most relevant

Adjectives formed from participles use more or most as well.

	comparative	superlative
provoking	more provoking	the most provoking
enthralled	more enthralled	the most enthralled

To indicate the opposite of both the -er/-est and the more/most forms of comparison, less or least is always used.

	comparative	superlative
sharp	less sharp	the least sharp
fortunate	less fortunate	the least fortunate
interesting	less interesting	the least interesting
involved	less involved	the least involved

Adjectives with two syllables (including those that already end in -er) can follow either pattern or sometimes both patterns. If you are doubtful about a two-syllable adjective, use the more/most pattern.