Adjectives

Comparative and Superlative forms

1 One-syllable and two-syllable adjectives ending in –y

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative	Spelling
young	younger	the youngest	most adjectives +
tall	taller	the tallest	-er, the -est
nice	nicer	the nicest	adjectives ending
large	larger	the largest	in -e: + -r, the -st
thin	thinner	the thinnest	one vowel + one
big	bigger	the biggest	consonant: double the consonant
pretty	prettier	the prettiest	change -y to -i

2 Other two-syllable adjectives and longer adjectives

serious	more serious	the most serious
sophisticated	more sophisticated	the most sophisticated

But we usually use -er and the -est with the following two-syllable adjectives: clever, quiet, simple, gentle.

3 Irregular forms

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
good little many/much bad far	better less more worse farther /further	the best the least the most the worst the farthest / furthest

4 Prepositions in comparative phrases

I think she’s more attractive than her sister.

Your eyes are very similar to your mother’s.

Are these glasses very different from your old ones?

She looks like a businesswoman.

Her earrings are the same as mine.