Degrees of comparision

1.

Degrees of comparison
Spotlight 10
Module 3

2.

Comparative adjectives
• Comparative adjectives compare one person or thing
with another and enable us to say whether a person
or thing has more or less of a particular quality:
• Josh is taller than his sister.
• I’m more interested in music than sport.

3.

Superlative adjectives
• Superlative adjectives describe one person or thing as
having more of a quality than all other people or
things in a group:
• The ‘Silver Arrow’ will be the fastest train in the world
when it is built.
• What is the least expensive way of travelling in Japan?

4.

Comparative and superlative adjectives
One-syllable adjectives (big, cold,hot …)
1. To form the comparative, we use the -er suffix with
adjectives of one syllable:
- It’s colder today than yesterday.
- It was a longer holiday than the one we had last year.
2. To form the superlative, we use the –est suffix with
adjectives of one syllable. We normally use the before a
superlative adjective:
- I think that’s the biggest apple I’ve ever seen!

5.

Comparatives and superlatives with one-syllable
adjectives
most adjectives
add -er:
cheaper, richer, small
er, younger
adjectives ending in –e add -r:
fine
finer, nicer, rarer
add -est:
cheapest, richest,
smallest, youngest
add -st:
finest, nicest, rarest
adjectives with one
vowel + one
consonant: big
double the final
consonant and add est: biggest, hottest,
thinnest
double the final
consonant and add er: bigger, hotter,
thinner

6.

Comparative and superlative adjectives
Two-syllable adjectives
• Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y change y to i and take the -er and
-est endings:
busy, busier, busiest happy, happier, happiest
easy, easier, easiest
funny, funnier, funniest

7.

Comparative and superlative adjectives
• Some other two-syllable adjectives (especially those ending
in an unstressed vowel sound) can also take the -er and -est
endings:
- clever, cleverer, cleverest /
- quiet, quieter, quietest
. We don’t normally use the -er and -est endings with twosyllable adjectives ending in –ful, -ing Instead, we use
most/least, more/less
- This dictionary is more useful than the one we had before.

8.

Longer adjectives
• Adjectives of three or more syllables form the
comparative with more/less and the superlative with
most/least:
- The second lecture was more interesting than the
first.
- Not: The second lecture was interestinger …
- That way of calculating the figures seems less
complicated to me.

9.

Comparative adjectives:
much, a lot, far, etc.
• We can strengthen or emphasise a comparative adjective using words
such as much, a lot, far, even or rather, or by using than ever after the
adjective:
- This food is much better than the food we had yesterday.
We can soften a comparative adjective using a little or a bit. A bit is less
formal:
- She feels a little more confident now that she’s given her first public
performance.
- or She feels a bit more confident … (less formal)

10.

Comparative adjectives
• As … as: We use as + adjective/adverb + as to make comparisons
when the things we are comparing are equal in some way:
- The weather this summer is as bad as last year.
- Not as … as: We use not as … as to make comparisons between things
which aren’t equal:
- -It’s not as heavy as I thought it would be, actually.
• the -er, the –er (чем … тем) and the more …, the more …
• The colder it is, the hungrier I get.

11.

Irregular comparatives and superlatives
Adjective
Comparative
Superlative
Good/well
better
best
Bad/badly
worse
worst
little
less
least
Much/many
more
most
Far
old
Further / farther furthest / farthest
Oldest/eldest
Older/elder