Comparatives and Superlatives

The comparative and superlative forms in English compare and contrast different objects in English.

Basketball is more exciting than golf.

That house is bigger than mine.

Our friends have the nicest dog in the town.

She is the happiest person I know.

Use the comparative form to show the difference between two objects.

His car is faster than Doug's.

Quebec City is more exciting than Waterloo.

Mary is happier than Anna.

Add -er to end of the adjective

Examples: slow - slower / high - higher

This book is cheaper than that book.

Tom is smarter than Derrick.

Drop -y and add -ier to two syllable adjectives ending in -y.

Example: happy - happier / funny - funnier

I am happier than you.

Her joke was funnier than his joke.

place more before the adjective

Examples: interesting - more interesting / difficult - more difficult

Victoria is more expensive than Montreal.

This test is more difficult than the last test.

Use the superlative form when speaking about three or more objects to show which object is the most of something.

Examples:

New York City is the most exciting city in the USA.

Peter is the luckiest guy in the world.

That's the cleanest bathroom I've ever seen!

Place the before the adjective and add -est to end of the adjective

Example: cheap - the cheapest / hot - the hottest / high - the highest

Today is the hottest day of the summer.

This chicken is the cheapest I can find.

Place the most before the adjective

Example: interesting - the most interesting / difficult - the most difficult

Toronto is the most expensive city in Canada.

That is the most beautiful painting in the museum.

Place the before the adjective and remove the y from the adjective and add iest.

Example: happy - the happiest / funny - the funniest

Los Angeles is the noisiest city in the USA.

He is the funniest person I know.

There are some important exceptions to these rules! Here are two of the most important exceptions:

good

• good - adjective
• better - comparative
• the best - superlative

The Montreal Canadiens are a good hockey team.

This book is better than that one.
My cégep is the best school in the province.

bad

• bad - adjective
• worse - comparative
• the worst - superlative

He got a bad grade on his test.

His French is worse than mine.
This is the worst day of my life.

Anglais pré-collégial © 2023 by Rebecca Peters, Cégep Édouard-Montpetit/Entente Canada-Québec is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/