Comparative Superlative Adjectives English Grammar Lesson with PDF Quiz

adjectives and adverbs are great for adding detail to your story but what if you want to talk about how one person idea or thing compares to another one this is where the comparative structure comes into play we use comparisons to provide richer detail and more context for the listener or reader as always there is free pdf that goes with today's lesson it's got all of the notes from the lesson and very clear visual tables and i've also included quiz so that you can put what you've learned into practice if you would like to download this free pdf all you've got to do is click on the link in the description box you enter your name and your email address you sign up to my mailing list and the pdf will arrive directly in your inbox after that you've joined the pdf club you will automatically receive my free lesson pdfs along with all of my news updates and offers you can unsubscribe at any time today we're going to discuss comparative and superlative adjectives you likely already know that adjectives and adverbs modify nouns and verbs and it's possible to make comparative sentences simply using an adjective or adverb using the as as or not as as pattern for example she is as pretty as her mother or the test was not as easy as thought but today's lesson will focus on making comparisons using comparative and superlative adjectives comparatives and superlatives for short comparative is used to compare two nouns words like faster slower shorter smaller notice that comparatives often end in but not always superlative is used to compare three or more objects that are at the upper and lower limits of quality words like the fastest the slowest the shortest the smallest notice the word the comes before the superlative now that you understand the differences between comparatives and superlatives let's look at few important rules to follow when making comparisons let's start by learning how to form comparative sentence they follow this noun subject plus verb plus comparative adjective plus than plus noun object we must use the word than after the comparative adjective in comparative sentences like she is shorter than lisa our car is faster than his the pattern for writing superlative sentence is bit different the pattern is subject noun plus verb plus the plus superlative adjective plus the object noun we omit than but place the before the superlative adjective for example she is the shortest in the class or our car is the fastest in town now forming regular comparatives and superlatives is fairly easy let's look at few rules for one syllable adjectives we add to comparatives and est to superlatives large larger largest old older oldest notice with the superlatives i'm not saying est oldest i'm saying ist oldest an example it was the largest house we had ever seen adjectives that follow the consonant plus single vowel plus consonant pattern must double the final consonant that sounds complicated but you'll see it and it will become clear sad sadder saddest fat fatter fattest do you see what mean there consonant vowel consonant we double the final consonant to make comparatives and superlatives an example your cat is much fatter than last time now let's talk about most two-syllable words not all of them there are always exceptions but most of them most two-syllable comparatives will add more or less and the superlatives will add most or least thoughtful more thoughtful or less thoughtful and most thoughtful or least thoughtful pleasant more or less pleasant most or least pleasant we don't say pleasanter or pleasantist an example we have the most thoughtful neighbors in this neighborhood there are other two-syllable adjectives what about the ones that end in if two-syllable adjective ends in we remove the we change it to and we add e-r in the comparative form and e-s-t in the superlative form happy happier happiest hungry hungrier hungriest an example nobody is hungrier than carl after cricket match we have some other two-syllable adjectives we have some ending with o-r or o-w which are treated like regular comparatives and superlatives we add e-r to the comparatives and est to the superlatives narrow narrower narrowest poor poorer poorest they took us on the narrowest bridge we have adverbs ending in adverbs that end in receive more or less in the comparative form and most or least in the superlative form slowly more or less slowly most or least slowly lively more or less lively most or least lively an example georgie drives the most slowly out of the people in my family you could also say georgie drives the slowest out of the people in my family now this is where it gets bit tricky some adjectives can be correct in either form let's look at few examples friendly this can be friendlier or more friendly or less friendly it can be friendliest or most or least friendly simple is the same simple simpler simplest or simple more or less simple most least simple the same goes for clever cleverer or cleverest or more or less clever or most or least clever an example that was simpler than expected or that was more simple than expected there are of course some irregular adjectives that don't follow any rule these need to be memorized which comes with practice for example bad worse worst good better best little less least far farther farthest or far further furthest further and furthest is more common in british english and farther and farthest is more common in american english it's important that you recognize both an example my experience at that restaurant was the worst had my entire trip right that's it from me today hope you enjoyed this lesson and hope you learned something don't forget that there is full lesson pdf for free with quiz you can put what you've learned into practice if you'd like to download that just click on the link in the description box and you sign up to my mailing list the pdf will be sent directly to your inbox don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media i've got my instagram english with lucy i've also got my website where i've got fantastic interactive pronunciation tool if you want to improve your pronunciation this is perfect you can see every single phoneme and you can click on the phonemes and hear how they're pronounced and hear me say word containing those phonemes the links down below play around with it it's really useful if you would like to improve your listening skills and your vocabulary skills i've also got my vlogging channel document my life here in the english countryside but the important part is that every vlog is fully subtitled so you can use it for listening practice and you can use it to expand your vocabulary will see you soon for another lesson bye