COMPARISONS

COMPARATIVES, SUPERLATIVES AND EQUATIVES

A ADJECTIVES USAGE + BASIC RULES

ADJECTIVES

LONG

SHORT

USAGE

one syllable

COMPARATIVE

SUPERLATIVE

When you compare two things/

people.

When you compare three or

more things/ people. To say
that one person or thing in a
group is unique.

or

two syllables ending in y *

Adjective +

+ (than)

The + Adjective +

ier
More

Two syllables or more

er

Less

+ Adjective + (than)

est
iest

most
The +

least

+ Adjective

EXAMPLES:
Number of syllables
one syllable *

ADJECTIVE

SUPERLATIVE

cheap

cheaper than

the cheapest

old

older than

the oldest

happier than

the happiest

easier than

the easiest

more expensive than

the most expensive

less modern than

the least modern

two syllables ending in happy

y *
easy
two syllables or more

COMPARATIVE

expensive

modern
*See spelling rules next page (PART B)

EXAMPLE SENTENCES:
COMPARATIVE

SUPERLATIVE

New York is larger than Boston.

New York is the largest city in the U.S.

Chicago is colder than Miami.

Chicago is the coldest city I know.

Bob is taller than John.

Bob is the tallest person in my family.

A Mercedes is more expensive than a

Volkswagen.

The Rolls Royce is the most expensive car.

B * SPELLING RULES
1

1) One-syllable adjectives

simply add er or est

2) C + V + C ending

double the last consonant and add er or est

(Or ending in a short vowel followed by a single consonant)

Ex: hot = hoTTer (than), (the) hoTTest
big = biGGer (than), (the) biGGest
3)

e ending

just add r or st

Ex: nice = niceR (than), (the) niceST

wide = wideR (than), (the) wideST
4) a) C + Y ending

drop the y and add ier or iest

Ex: lucky = luckIER (than), (the) luckIEST

healthy = healthIER (than), (the) healthIEST
b) V + Y

ending

just add er or est

Ex: coy* = coyER (than), (the) coyEST

gray = grayER (than), (the) grayEST
VOCABULARY: COY* = someone who pretends to be timid.

C IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES
IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES
good
bad
little
much/many
far

COMPARATIVE
better than
worse than
less than
more than
farther / further than

SUPERLATIVE
the best
the worst
the least
the most
the farthest / furthest

EXAMPLE SENTENCES:
COMPARATIVES

SUPERLATIVES

- Steak is better than fish.

- The steak I had last night was the best Ive ever
had.

- This book is worse than that book.

- The book I read last month was the worst Ive

ever read.

D EXERCISES
Read the information about the three women in the box below and do exercises I, II and III
using comparatives and superlatives as indicated.

Jean
30 years old
5 feet, 2 inches tall

Donna
34 years old
5 feet, 4 inches tall

Connie
27 years old
5 feet, 6 inches tall

NOTE:
= feet
= inches
2

105 pounds
very beautiful
very neat
friendly
very quiet

110 pounds
beautiful
neat
very friendly
quiet

125 pounds
not very beautiful
not very neat
friendly
not very quiet

55 = 1,67m
(5479)
FEET TO METERS
= multiply by 0.3048
METERS TO FEET
= multiply by 3.2810

I Compare Donna with Connie:

1. Donna is older than Connie.

(old)

2. __________________________________________________________________. (young)
3. __________________________________________________________________. (heavy)
4. ________________________________________________________________. (beautiful)
5. ____________________________________________________________________.(neat)

II Now compare the three women:

1. Jean is the quietest of the three women.

(quiet)

2. _____________________________________________________________________. (tall)
3. ___________________________________________________________________. (short)
4. _________________________________________________________________. (friendly)
5. ________________________________________________________________ . (beautiful)

III Finally complete the questions below according to the answers:

1. A: Which of the three women is the most beautiful?

(beautiful)

B: Jean.
2. A: Who ____________________________________________________________? (neat)
B: Jean is the neatest.
3. A: Is Connie __________________________________________________________? (tall)
B: Yes, she is.
4. A: Which ___________________________________________________________? (quiet)
B: Jean is.
5. A: Is Donna ________________________________________________________? (young)
B: No, shes the oldest.

EQUATIVES
Comparatives of Equality
As ... as
We use as ... as to say that two people, things, etc are the same in some way.

Judy is as tall as Martin.

as + adjective + as
Im as old as you are.
Was the exam as difficult as youd expected?
After not, we can use as ... as or so ... as.
not as/so + adjective + as
Judy isnt as/so tall as Carla.
Today isnt as/so cold as yesterday.
The same + (noun) + as

This T-shirt is the same colour as mine

This T-shirt is the same as mine
Similar to + noun

This book is similar to the one I read yesterday

Different from / to + noun

This guy is different from / to the rest

EXERCISE 1
COMPLETE THE SENTENCES USING AS ... AS AND THE ADJECTIVES IN THE BOX.
EXAMPLE:

Are you as old as Mike?

interesting

cheap

No, Im younger than he is.

old

clever

tall

1) Jill is almost __________________________ her father. Shes 164 cm and hes 166 cm.
2) Im not __________________________ my brother. Hes very intelligent.
3) The film wasnt __________________________ Id thought it would be. In fact, it was quite
boring.
4) Going by train is almost __________________________ taking the coach. They both cost
around 5.

EXERCISE 2
MAKE COMPARISONS USING ISNT AS ... AS AND THE ADJECTIVES IN PARENTHESES.
EXAMPLE:

Japan / India (large / industrialised)

Japan isnt as large as India.
India isnt as industrialised as Japan.

1) a giraffe / an elephant (tall / strong / fast)

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
2) iron / gold (strong / valuable)
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
3) a gorilla / a human (intelligent / strong)
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
4) a car / a bicycle (expensive / fast / easy to park)
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
NOTE: In an informal style we use object pronouns like me, him after as. Example, You arent as
tired as me. In a more formal style we use a subject pronoun like I, he + verb. Example,
You arent as tired as I am. Some people think that the subject form + verb is more
correct.

COMPARATIVES, SUPERLATIVES AND EQUATIVES

EXERCISE 3
COMPLETE THE SENTENCES USING THE CORRECT FORM OF THE ADJECTIVES IN
PARENTHESES. ADD THAN, THE OR AS WHERE NECESSARY.
5

EXAMPLES:

A mile is longer than a kilometer (long)

Today isnt as sunny as yesterday. (sunny)
Whats the best holiday youve ever had? (good)

1) Baseball is one of _________________________ sport in the USA. (popular)

2) Shes much _________________________ her brother. (serious)
3) He wasnt as _________________________ he usually is. (friendly)
4) That was _________________________ film Ive ever seen. (good)
5) Hes much _________________________ any of his brothers. (generous)
6) You arent as _________________________ you think you are. (clever)
7) Wheres _________________________ place in the world? (hot)
8) Debbie is far _________________________ she used to be. (self-confident)
9) My brother is one of _________________________ people I know. (strange)
10) Which is _________________________ building in the world? (tall)
11) Our holiday was much _________________________ wed expected. (cheap)
12) That was one of _________________________ times of my life. (enjoyable)
COMPARISONS
SUMMARY
ADJECTIVES

SHORT

One syllable
adjectives

COMPARISONS OF ADJECTIVES
EQUATIVE
COMPARATIVE
as tall as

Two syllable
adjectives

as noisy as

ending in y

LONG

Two syllable
adjectives not

as famous as

ending in y
adjectives with
3 or more syllables

as artistic as

taller than
(nor as tall as)
noisier than
(not as noisy as)

SUPERLATIVE
the tallest

the noisiest

more / less famous than

the most famous

(not as famous as)

the least famous

more / less artistic than

the most artistic

(not as artistic as)

the least artistic

better than
worse than
as good as
Irregular form of adjectives

farther / further than

as bad as
as far as

(not as good as)

(not as bad as)

the best
the worst
the farthest
the furthest

(not as far as)

NOTE 1: The following adjectives can use either form (-er / -est or more / the most):
6

able, angry, clever, cruel, friendly, gently, handsome, narrow, polite, obscure, secure,
simple, stupid.
Example:
as friendly as

friendlier than

The friendliest

more friendly than

The most friendly

NOTE 2: The comparative form of fun is more fun than.