Grammar: comparatives and superlatives, and modifiers 1

We use comparative adjectives to compare two people or things. We often use them in sentences
with than.
My house is smaller than your house.
She’s better at dealing with the details than Matt.
We use superlative adjectives to describe a thing or a person in relation to a group of more than two
things or people. We use them in sentences with the.
My house is the biggest house on the street/of the three.
We can also compare things or people using as … as.
My house is as big as your house.

He’s not as reliable as Irena.

We can modify comparatives by using e.g. even, much, a lot, slightly or substantially.
My house is a lot bigger/more expensive than your house.
We can modify superlatives by using e.g.easily or by far.
My house is easily/by far the biggest house on the street.
We can modify as … as constructions using not nearly or not quite.
My house is not nearly/not quite as big as your house.
Sometimes we use comparative structures containing more, the most, less and the least with nouns.
Matt’s possibly the least experienced Senior Account Manager we’ve ever appointed.
This is by far one of the most important contracts we’ve had for a while.
He's got substantially more experience than Matt.