25/2/2016 Comparatives and superlatives by Viv Quarry Comparatives, superlatives and equality by Viv Quarry (www.vivquarry.com) Look at these sentences: Type 1 London is bigger than Manchester London is the biggest city in Britain Type2 London is more cosmopolitan than Manchester London is the most cosmopolitan city in Britain Words of ONE SYLLABLE are TYPE 1 Words of THREE SYLLABLES OR MORE are TYPE 2 Words of TWO SYLLABLES ending in '~ER', '~Y' or '~LE' are TYPE 1 Adjective Comparative Superlative clever cleverer the cleverest funny funnier* the funniest* simple simpler the simplest * Note how the 'Y' changes to 'I' when a suffix is added Words of TWO SYLLABLES ending in '~FUL' or '~ING' are TYPE 2 Adjective Comparative Superlative careful more careful the most careful boring more boring the most boring Some two syllable adjectives can be both types: Adjective Comparative Superlative polite politer / more polite the politest / the most polite MOST TWO SYLLABLE WORDS ARE TYPE TWO, so if you're not sure, guess that the comparative and superlative are formed using MORE / THE MOST Irregular adjectives Adjective Comparative Superlative good better the best bad worse the worst far (UK) further the furthest far (USA) farther the farthest a lot more the most a little less the least http://vivquarry.com/wkshts/comps.html 1/2 25/2/2016 Comparatives and superlatives by Viv Quarry Note! We use 'fewer' and 'the fewest' with countable nouns e.g. There were fewer people than yesterday Thanks to Headway Intermediate 1st edition for help with these rules Next Back to grammar worksheets Home http://vivquarry.com/wkshts/comps.html 2/2