COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

Mary Pam
Mary is six years old and Pam is ten years old.

Mary is younger than Pam.

Pam is older than Mary.

Positive Comparative
old older
One syllable adjective

nice nicer
One syllable adjective ending in-e, + -r

big bigger
One syllable adjective ending in 1
consonant preceded by 1 vowel – double
the final consonant. Don’t double –y, -w

happy happier
Adjectives of 1 or 2 syllables ending in –y.
Change –y into –i and add –er

Some two syllable adjectives: clever cleverer / more clever

narrow narrower / more
narrow
Adjectives of 2 or more syllables: difficult more difficult
Add more before the adjective

good better
Irregular adjectives bad worse
far farther / further
We use the comparative adjective + than to compare two people, things, places…
Ex: John is taller than Sue.
My car is more expensive than yours.
Paris is bigger than Madrid
 SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES

Mary Pam John

Mary is six years old, Pam is ten years old and John is thirteen years old.

Mary is the youngest. John is the oldest.

Positive Superlative
old The oldest
One syllable adjective

nice The nicest

One syllable adjective ending in-e, + -st

big The biggest

One syllable adjective ending in 1
consonant preceded by 1 vowel – double
the final consonant. Don’t double –y, -w

happy The happiest

Adjectives of 1 or 2 syllables ending in –y.
Change –y into –i and add –est

Some two syllable adjectives: clever The cleverest / the most

narrow clever
The narrowest / the most
narrow
Adjectives of 2 or more syllables: difficult The most difficult
Add the most before the adjective

good The best

Irregular adjectives bad The worst
far The farthest / the furthest

We use the superlative adjectives to point out one person, thing, place from a group…
Peter is the tallest in the class.
These are the most expensive shoes.
The Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
 COMPARATIVES / PRACTICE

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE
young
good
pretty
fat
wet
light
comfortable
boring
bad
cold
far
interesting
long
noisy
new
famous
late
easy

Complete these sentences with the comparative form of the adjectives in brackets:

a. My grandma is _________________than my mum. (old)

b. Maths exams are usually ________________(easy) than English exams.
c. My town is _____________________(far) away from London than New York.
d. One of my friends is _________________(pretty) than Britney Spears.
e. Chocolate cake is _____________________(tasty) than apple cake.
f. The girls in my class are __________________(clever) than the boys.
g. Books are usually _______________________(interesting) than films.
h. Fruit is ___________________(good) for me than chocolate.

Fill in with the comparative form of the adjectives adding than, as in the example:

a. My brother is five years older than (old) me.

b. Italy is ____________________(warm) Iceland.
c. Lake Superior is _________________(big) Lake Michigan.
d. I think that Maths is ___________________(difficult) English.
e. A taxi is _______________________(expensive) the bus.
f. Fruit is ___________________________(good)for you than chocolate cake.
g. My best friend is ___________________ (clever) I am.
h. My new jeans are _____________________(nice) my old ones.
i. Mark is 4 centimetres __________________(tall) he was a year ago.
j. Trains are _________________________(fast) cars but __________________(slow) planes.

Write some sentences comparing two friends, two things and two places:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
 SUPERLATIVE / PRACTICE

POSITIVE SUPERLATIVE
young
good
pretty
fat
wet
light
comfortable
boring
bad
cold
far
interesting
long
noisy
new
famous
late
easy

Fill in these sentences with the words from the box and the correct superlative adjective.

Russia – Mount Everest – Lake Baikal – Vatican city – The cheetah – The Nile

1. ____________________is _______________________(deep) lake in the world.

2. ____________________ is ______________________ (fast) animal in the world.
3. ____________________ is ______________________ (high) mountain in the world.
4. ____________________ is ______________________ (long) river in the world.
5. ____________________ is ______________________ (small) country in the world.
6. ____________________ is ______________________ (big) country in the world.

Write sentences about your friends using superlative adjectives:

1. (strong boy)_______________________________________________________________________
2. (tall boy)__________________________________________________________________________
3. (short girl)_________________________________________________________________________
4. (funny student)____________________________________________________________________
5. (good student)_____________________________________________________________________
6. (fast runner)_______________________________________________________________________

Fill in the superlative form of the adjectives adding any necessary words as in the example.
1. Mr Clark has got the fastest (fast) car in our street.
2. The Pacific is ________________ (large) ocean in the world.
3. Mt Everest is ________________(high) mountain in the world.
4. This is ______________________(expensive) pair of shoes I have.
5. Kate is ______________(old) of all the sisters.
6. I think Brad Pitt is ____________________(famous) actor in Hollywood.
7. My mum is _____________________(good) mum in the world.
8. The English test was ___________________(easy) of all.
9. That must be _____________________(bad) film ever made.
10. ________________________(hot) place on Earth is the Lut Desert in Iran.
 Comparative – Superlatives

Peter is younger than Sarah.

Use the comparative adjective + than to compare people, things or places

Paul is the tallest in the class.

Use the superlative adjective preceded by the. We use in to refer to places and of to refer to groups.

The Burj Dubai is the highest building in the world.

Jack is the oldest of all.

Fill in the gaps with the comparative or superlative form of the adjectives in brackets, adding any
necessary words (the / than), as in the example:

1. Sarah thinks tennis is the most boring (boring)sports of all.

2. The blue jacket is __________________________(cheap) the green one.
3. Caroline is a ___________________________(good) swimmer than Chris.
4. Michael is ______________________________(intelligent) boy in the whole school.
5. I believe that documentaries _________________________ (interesting) other TV programmes.
6. Lionel Messi is _____________________________ (talented) football player in the world.
7. Neptune is ________________________________(cold) planet in our solar system.
8. This novel is _______________________________(interesting) the one I read a month ago.
9. Today is ________________________ (happy) day of my life!
10. A cheetah runs ____________________________(fast) a lion.

Fill in the gaps with the comparative or superlative form of the adjectives in brackets:

A: Did you stay in yesterday morning?

B: oh, no, we went to the new museum.
A: What was it like?
B: Well, it’s the 1. biggest building I’ve ever seen. It has 2. _____________________(good) exhibitions than
other museums but it is 3._____________________________(expensive), too.
A: What was 4._________________________(nice) thing you saw there?
B: I thought the dinosaur room was the 5. _____________________(interesting) part. However, my
parents found the Viking room 6. ____________________________(enjoyable) than the dinosaurs.
A: well, it all sounds very interesting. I’ll have to go soon.

Use the adjectives in the comparative or superlative form to complete the email below.

Hi Pedro!
I’m having the 1. best (good) time here in York, in the North of England. It isn’t 2. __________(big) than Madrid, but it isn’t truly
one of the 3. __________________ (beautiful) cities in Europe!
York has many different sights to see. York Minster is the 4. __________________(famous) on. It is 5. __________________
(big) than any other cathedral in the country. Actually, it is one of the 6. ____________ (large) cathedrals in Europe!
There are also many museums to visit here because York has one of 7. __________________(rich) histories in England.
Yesterday, I visited York Castle Museum. The 8. ___________________(interesting) exhibition there is the York Castle Prison,
where you can see what life was really like in the 18th century prisons. It was 9._________________(bad) than you can imagine,
that’s for sure!
York is definitely one of the 10. __________________(nice) places you can visit. I hope we can come together one day!
Love, Katie.