COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES CHEAT SHEET

COMPARATIVES www.valanglia.com
FOR ADJECTIVES:
FOR 1 PHONETIC SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES ENDING IN CONSONANT + CONSONANT, CONSONANT + VOWEL OR
DIPHTHONG + CONSONANT, ADD -ER TO THE END:
CALM --- CALMER
NICE --- NICER (HERE, DO NOT ADD AN EXTRA -E, USE THE ONE IN THE ROOT)
CLEAN --- CLEANER

FOR 1 PHONETIC SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES ENDING IN VOWEL + CONSONANT: ADD -ER TO THE END BUT DOUBLE
THE CONSONANT:
BIG --- BIGGER
HOT --- HOTTER
* EXCEPTION IN ENDINGS WITH VOWEL + -W: "SLOW" --- SLOWER (HERE, NEVER DOUBLE THE -W)

2 PHONETIC SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES ENDING IN -Y, ADD -IER AND REMOVE -Y:
PRETTY --- PRETTIER
LUCKY --- LUCKIER

FOR THE REST OF TWO PHONETIC SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES AND LONG ADJECTIVES WITH 3 OR MORE PHONETIC
SYLLABLES: USE "MORE" OR "LESS" + ADJECTIVE IN THE ORIGINAL FORM:
"THIS T-SHIRT IS MORE/LESS MODERN THAN THE OTHER"
"SHE IS MORE/LESS BEAUTIFUL THAN HER SISTER"

REMEMBER: IF NEEDED, WE WILL ALWAYS USE "THAN" AFTER THESE STRUCTURES TO INTRODUCE THE
PERSON IN THE FORM OF OBJECT, ELEMENT, SITUATION OR EXPERIENCE WE ARE COMPARING THINGS TO:
"MY BEST FRIEND IS CALMER THAN ME"/"THE EXAM WAS MORE DIFFICULT THAN I EXPECTED"

* EXCEPTIONS WITH ADJECTIVES:

ADJECTIVES ENDING IN -ED ARE ALWAYS USED WITH "MORE"/"LESS": "MY AUNT IS MORE STRESSED THAN I
THOUGHT"/"I AM MORE TIRED TODAY THAN YESTERDAY"/"I NOTICED THEY WERE MORE BORED THAN EVER"

IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES: GOOD/BAD/FAR HAVE THEIR OWN FORMS. FOR "GOOD" USE BETTER, FOR "BAD" USE
WORSE AND FOR "FAR" USE FURTHER: "THIS MOVIE IS BETTER THAN THE ONE I SAW YESTERDAY"/"THE
SCHOOL IS FURTHER THAN THE LIBRARY"

FOR ADVERBS:
ALWAYS USE: "MORE" OR "LESS" + ADVERB IN THE ORIGINAL FORM: "HE IS RUNNING MORE SLOWLY THAN IN
THE LAST RACE"/"SHE SINGS MORE LOUDLY THAN ANYONE ELSE"

* EXCEPTIONS WITH ADVERBS:

IRREGULAR ADVERBS: WELL, BADLY, HARD ARE USED AS BETTER, WORSE, HARDER: "I STUDY MUCH BETTER AT
NIGHT". HERE, "MUCH" IS A QUANTIFIER (SEE BELOW SECTION ON QUANTIFIERS).

FOR ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS:

WHEN EXPRESSING EQUALITY IN COMPARISONS USE: "AS" + ADJECTIVE/ADVERB IN THE ORIGINAL FORM +
"AS": "PETER IS AS TALL AS HIS FATHER"/"HE DRIVES AS FASTLY AS AN F1 PILOT"

:
I FIERS
QUANT
YOU CAN ALWAYS USE QUANTIFIERS TO INCREASE OR LOWER THE EFFECT OF BOTH ADJECTIVES
AND ADVERBS WITHIN THEIR FUNCTION IN A SENTENCE (SOME EXAMPLES OF QUANTIFIERS ARE: MUCH,
ENOUGH, TOO, TOO MUCH, TOO MANY, VERY, REALLY, ESPECIALLY, ETC.)

SUPERLATIVES
FOLLOW THE SAME RULES AS IN COMPARATIVES: USE "THE" + ADJECTIVE/ADVERB FOLLOWED BY -EST/-IEST
(WHERE -ER/-IER IN COMP.) OR "THE MOST"/"THE LEAST" + ADJECTIVE/ADVERB IN THE ORIGINAL FORM
(WHERE "MORE" AND "LESS" IN COMP.).
USE THE BEST/THE WORST/THE FURTHEST FOR IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES GOOD/BAD/FAR AND FOR ADVERBS
WELL/BADLY/FAR.
THEY CAN BE FOLLOWED BY "IN" (WITH PLACES/GROUPS) AND "OF" WITH INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE/THINGS: "SHE IS
THE SMARTEST GIRL I'VE EVER KNOWN"/ "THIS IS THE BIGGEST BUILDING IN THE CITY"/"JENNIFER IS THE
FUNNIEST COLLEAGUE IN THE OFFICE"/"TOM TALKS THE LOUDEST OF ALL BOYS".
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