COMPARISON OF EQUALITY
Affirmative: AS - AS My son is as tall as me Negative: NOT SO - AS (also: not as - as) My son isn’t so tall as me / My son isn’t as tall as me
COMPARISON OF INFERIORITY
LESS - THAN I’m less fat than last summer The film was less interesting than what I expected
COMPARISON OF SUPERIORITY AND SUPERLATIVE
When comparing two things we use the comparative:
John is taller than Mark
When comparing more than two things, we use the superlative:
John is the tallest in his family Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world
- short words (1 syllable):
Comparatives add -ER and superlatives add -EST old older oldest fast faster fastest Words ending in -e drop it late later latest fine finer finest Words ending in -y change it to -i shy shier shiest Words ending in one single syllable followed by one single consonant, double the final consonant when the vowel is stressed: -1V+1C --> -CC fat fatter fattest slim slimmer slimmest
- long words (3 or more syllables):
They use MORE for the comparative and THE MOST for the superlative.
intelligent more intelligent the most intelligent
- 2-syllable words:
They can use both forms, but we prefer More/the Most
handsome more handsome the most handsome cheerful more cheerful the most cheerful
Nevertheless, words ending in -y and some adjectives such as: quiet, clever and narrow usually take -er/-est easy easier the easiest happy happier the happiest clever cleverer the cleverest
But if they end in -ly, they use more/most (except: early) quickly more quickly the most quickly slowly more slowly the most slowly early earlier the earliest
If you find the two-syllable words confusing, it is usually safe to say that when in doubt, you can always use more/most.
PRONOUNS WITH COMPARATIVES
If the second part of the comparison is a personal pronoun, there are three possibilities: She's older than me (the most common construction in informal English) She's older than I am (the most common in formal English) She's older than I (very formal and rarely used, so you can forget about it)
SUPERLATIVE SENTENCES
Don't forget to use the article with superlatives: the Tommy is the tallest person I know
When comparing with a group, use the preposition IN (rarely "of") That's the highest building in the world You have the nicest room in the hotel The boss is the most important person in the company I'm the youngest in my family
But we can use the preposition OF before plurals and time expresions He’s the biggest one of the boys Kevin is the most handsome of them This is the best day of my life July is usually the hottest month of the year
GRADING
- my friend is tall --> my friend is taller than me - my friend is very tall --> my friend is much taller than me - my friend is a bit tall --> my friend is a bit taller than me - my friend is very very very tall --> my friend is by far the tallest
- My friend is much less tall than me - my friend is by far the tallest in class (much much taller than the rest) - my friend is much more intelligent than John - my girl-friend is by far the most wonderful girl in the world
- To express that the quality is increasing, you use more and more
- It's getting darker and darker - You are becoming more and more stupid
Irregular forms
good/well better best bad/badly worse worst far further/farther furthest/farthest
SUMMARY (examples)
= Jim is as tall as Jack ≠ Jim is not so tall as Jack - Jim is less tall than Jack + Jim is taller than Jack Jim is more intelligent than Jack ++ Jim is the tallest in my class Jim is the most intelligent