Comparative & Superlative -
Adjectives of one syllable 1
Adjectives can have two additional forms to express degrees of modification: comparative and superlative.
Use the comparative form of an adjective when comparing one thing with another;
and the superlative form when comparing one thing with the rest (more than one) in the whole group.
Adjectives of one syllable Adjective Comparative Superlativeadd - er add - est most adjectives tall
rich
poor
shorttaller
richer
poorer
shortertallest
richest
poorest
shortestadd - r add - st ends in -e late
fine
ripe
rare
nice
later
finer
riper
rarer
nicer
latest
finest
ripest
rarest
nicest
add final "c" then - er add final "c" then - est ends with vowel
+ final consonantfat
flat
big
sad
thin
slim
fatter
flatter
bigger
sadder
thinner
slimmer
fattest
flattest
biggest
saddest
thinnest
slimmest
Adjectives of two or more syllables | Irregular comparatives & superlatives
The word "the" precedes the superlative e.g., Jos is the fastest swimmer in her school.
Do not use "more" with a comparative adjective formed with -er (e.g.,morefatter)
nor "most" with a superlative adjective formed with -est (e.g.,mostfattest).
1 Syllables are chunks of sound. All words have at least one syllable.
Examples: hot (1 syllable), happy (2 syllables) and beautiful (3 syllables).
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