Adjectives are words naming an attribute of a noun, such as sweet, big, or imaginary. Adjectives can be used to make comparisons, but in doing so, their form changes slightly. Apart from the basic form, two additional forms of adjectives can be found: comparative and superlative. Let's take a look at how to make them and when to use them.

The comparative form

We use the comparative form to show change or make comparisons. For example:

• This house is much bigger but certainly much more expensive.

To make the comparative form, we ad -er at the end of the adjective.

• clean – cleaner
• cold – colder
• fast – faster

However, the English language would not be as exciting as it is if there weren't for some spelling changes.

• If one vowel is followed by one consonant at the end of the adjective, we often double the consonant. (wet – wetter, hot – hotter, thin – thinner)
• If the adjective ends in y, this often changes to i. (dry – drier, easy – easier, lovely – lovelier)
• If the adjective ends in e, we don't add another e, just r. (nice – nicer, large – larger, gentle -gentler)

The comparative form gets a tad more complicated with longer adjectives. For adjectives with two or more syllables, we generally use more.

• careful – more careful
• beautiful – more beautiful
• expensive – more expensive

Two-syllable adjectives can take both forms – the short or the long. The shot one is preferred, but the long one is also fine.

• clever – cleverer/more clever
• happy – happier/more happy
• ugly – uglier/more ugly

And in the end, some adjectives just don't want to follow any rules. We call them irregular. Their comparative form is usually quite unique.

• good – better
• bad – worse
• far – further
• little – less
• much – more

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The superlative form

We use the superlative form to show the extreme or highest degree of quality. For example:

• This house is the biggest and certainly the most expensive.

To make the superlative form, we ad -est at the end of the adjective, following the definite article.

• clean – the cleanest
• cold – the coldest
• fast – the fastest

The spelling irregularities we spoke about before still stand.

• wet – the wettest
• dry – the driest
• nice – the nicest

We generally use the most to make the superlative form of longer adjectives with two or more syllables.

• careful – the most careful
• beautiful – the most beautiful
• expensive – the most expensive

To finish off, let's go back to our irregular friends.

• good – the best
• bad – the worst
• far – the furthest
• little – the least
• much – the most

Pop quiz

Now that you've revised the basic adjective comparison, let's do a short exercise.

1. Your car is much __________ than mine. (fast)
2. I think sailing is __________ than climbing. (exciting)
3. She thinks this test was __________ than the last one. (difficult)
4. They live in __________house I've ever seen. (amazing)
5. I like this actor. I think he's __________ (good).