COMPARTIVES AND

SUPERLATIVES
To compare people, places, events or things, when there is no
difference, use as + adjective + as:

Peter is 24 years old.

old John is 24 years old.
old
Peter is as old as John.

More examples:
Moscow is as cold as St. Petersburg in the winter.
Ramona is as happy as Raphael.
Einstein is as famous as Darwin.
A tiger is as dangerous as a lion.
If there is a difference, than this difference can be
shown by using not as ...as:

Examples

Mont Blanc is not as high as Mount Everest

Norway is not as sunny as Thailand
A bicycle is not as expensive as a car
Arthur is not as intelligent as Albert
This difference can be further shown by using
the comparative and superlative forms.
However, do note that you use the comparative form when
comparing just two things, people, places etc…..
 Comparatives are used to
compare two things.
things You
need to use “than” in your
sentence to show
comparison, or you can use
a conjunction like “but”.
Comparatives
The examples below
illustrate how these
sentences can be formed.

Examples
Jiro is taller than Yukio.
Yukio is tall, but Jiro is
taller.
On the other hand, when comparing more than two things,
people, places etc….you
etc…. must use the superlative form.
 Superlatives are used to compare
more than two things. Superlative
sentences usually use “the”,
because there is only one
superlative. The examples below
illustrate how these sentences can
be formed
Superlatives
Examples.

Masami is the tallest in the

class.
Yukio is tall, and Jiro is taller,
but Masami is the tallest.
The following slides explain the general rules that you
must observe when comparing two or more things.
Adjective form Comparative Superlative

Only one syllable

Add -r: Add -st:
and ending in E.
wider, widest,
Examples: wide,
finer, cuter finest, cutest
fine, cute
Adjective form Comparative Superlative

Only one syllable,

with one
Double the
consonant at the
consonant, Double the
beginning, one
and add - consonant, and
vowel in the
er: hotter, add -est: hottest,
middle and one
bigger, biggest, fattest
consonant at the
fatter
end. Examples:
hot, big, fat
Adjective form Comparative Superlative

Only one syllable,

with more than
Add -er: Add -est:
one vowel or more
lighter, lightest,
than one
neater, neatest,
consonant at the
faster fastest
end. Examples:
light, neat, fast
Adjective form Comparative Superlative

Change y to i Change y to i,
Two syllables,
, then add - then add -est:
ending in Y.
er: happier, happiest,
Examples: happy,
sillier, silliest,
silly, lonely
lonelier loneliest
Adjective form Comparative Superlative

Two syllables Use

Use “more”
or more, not “most” before
before the
ending in Y. the adjective:
adjective: more
Examples: most modern,
modern, more
modern, most
interesting,
interesting, interesting,
more beautiful
beautiful most beautiful
 COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show difference: use more, less, fewer + than

To show no difference: use as much as , as many as,

as few as, as little as
 To show difference: more, less, fewer + than
Examples:
With countable nouns: more / fewer

Eloise has more children than Chantal.
Chantal has fewer children than Eloise.
There are fewer dogs in Cardiff than in Bristol
I have visited fewer countries than my friend has.
He has read fewer books than she has.
 With uncountable nouns: more / less

Eloise has more money than Chantal.
Chantal has less money than Eloise.
I spend less time on homework than you
do.
Cats drink less water than dogs.
This new dictionary
gives more information than the old one.
 So, the rule is:

MORE + nouns that

are countable or uncountable
FEWER + countable nouns
LESS + uncountable nouns
To show no difference: as much as , as many as, as few as,
as little as
as many as / as few as + countable nouns
as much as / as little as + uncountable nouns
Examples:
With countable nouns:
They have as many children as us.
We have as many customers as them.
Tom has as few books as Jane.
There are as few houses in his village as in mine.
You know as many people as I do.
I have visited the States as many times as he has.
 With uncountable nouns:

John eats as much food as Peter.

Jim has as little food as Sam.
You've heard as much news as I have.
He's had as much success as his brother has.
They've got as little water as we have.
These slides were created by SRHJ
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
However, these slides were only possible
as a result of the mumerous online
resources and books that were so freely
available.
I thank the writers of them all.