Comparative And Superlative Adjectives

Smart, Smarter, Smartest

Jane knows she is smart, because she always gets A's on her assignments. But, she wonders, is she smarter than her friend Alex? And, is it possible that she might be the smartest person in her whole class?

'Smart' is a part of speech known as an adjective. This means it describes nouns, which, you may recall, are people, places and things. A regular adjective like 'smart' is useful when only talking about one thing. But if you want to compare multiple nouns, you need two special types of adjectives.

Comparative adjectives compare two things. 'Smarter' is a comparative adjective. Other comparative adjectives include 'worse', 'taller', 'shorter', 'bigger', 'uglier', and 'prettier'. Superlative adjectives are used to compare three or more things. 'Smartest' is a superlative adjective. Other superlative adjectives include 'worst', 'shortest', 'tallest', 'biggest', 'ugliest', and 'prettiest'.

Comparative Adjectives

As the name implies, comparative adjectives are used to show a direct comparison between two things. So you use comparative adjectives when there are onlytwo things being compared. Let's take a look at the rules for using comparative adjectives.

Rule 1:

For most one-syllable words, the comparative adjective is formed by taking the regular adjective and adding '-er' to the end:

• The oak tree is taller than the maple tree.
• Jane is smarter than John.
• This book is shorter than the last one I read.

Two notable exceptions to this rule are 'better' and 'worse', which are words that only exist in the comparative form:

• I am better at table tennis than you.
• I scored worse on my math test than John.

And one other note on this rule. When a word ends with a vowel followed by a single consonant, like 'big', you want to double that last consonant:

• 'Big' becomes 'bigger'
• 'Hot' becomes 'hotter'
• 'Fat' becomes 'fatter'

Rule 2:

For adjectives that are two syllables but end in '-y', the comparative is formed by dropping the '-y' and adding '-ier':

• The Mona Lisa is a prettier picture than the Last Supper.
• Sarah acted sillier at home than she did in school.

Rule 3:

For two-syllable words that do not end in '-y', and for any words that are three syllables or more, the comparative is formed by putting the word 'more' in front of the adjective:

• The sunset is more beautiful than it was yesterday.
• We are going to form a more perfect union.
• Mary outsmarted Josh because she is more intelligent than he is.

Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives are used to compare a group of three or more nouns. Superlative adjectives describe things that are the most of whatever adjective you are describing them with.

Rule 1:

The rules for using superlative adjectives are similar to comparative adjectives, but with one-syllable superlatives, you add the ending '-est' instead of '-er:

• That is the tallest building I have ever seen.
• Many people believe Albert Einstein is the smartest person who ever lived.
• Kevin is the shortest student in his class.

And the superlative forms of 'worse' and 'better' are 'worst' and 'best':

• I am the best table tennis player in the world.
• You are the worst person I have ever met.

And the double consonant rule applies with superlatives as well:

• 'Big' becomes 'biggest'
• 'Hot' becomes 'hottest'
• 'Fat' becomes 'fattest'

Rule 2:

With two-syllable words ending in '-y', the ending gets changed to '-iest':

• I want to tell Margaret she is the prettiest girl I know.
• That is the silliest excuse you have ever given me for not doing your homework.

Rule 3:

For two-syllable words that don't end in '-y' and all bigger words, use the word 'most' to make them superlative:

• That is the most beautiful work of art in this museum.
• We want this party to be the most perfect we have ever thrown.
• That was the most intelligent argument I have ever heard.