Comparatives and Superlatives
Comparatives and superlatives are used to compare two or more things. The comparative form is used to compare two things, while the superlative form compares three or more things.
Comparatives are used to show a difference between two people, places, objects, or ideas. For example:
- Mary is taller than John.
- Summer is hotter than winter.
- Reading is more relaxing than watching TV.
In each example, two things are being compared using the comparative form of the adjective (taller, hotter, more relaxing).
Superlatives show the greatest or least degree of something among three or more things. They are used to express the extreme or the end of a scale. For example:
- Mary is the tallest of all her friends.
- Summer is the hottest month of the year.
- Reading is the most relaxing hobby I have.
In these examples, more than two things are being compared (tallest, hottest, most relaxing).
For most one- or two-syllable adjectives, add -er to form the comparative and -est to form the superlative. For example:
- Fast...faster...fastest
- Big...bigger...biggest
For longer adjectives, place more before the adjective to form the comparative and most before the adjective to form the superlative. For example:
- Beautiful...more beautiful...most beautiful
- Intelligent...more intelligent...most intelligent
A common mistake is using double comparatives and superlatives by adding more or most before adjectives that already use -er and -est. For example:
- Incorrect: He is more taller than me.
- Correct: He is taller than me.
- Incorrect: This is the most unhappiest day of my life.
- Correct: This is the unhappiest day of my life.