Language: grammar and vocabulary
Comparison of adjectives
Form the comparative and superlative of an adjective — with -er and -est, with more and most, or by learning the irregular ones.
An adjective has three degrees. The positive just describes: a tall boy. The comparative sets two things side by side: taller than his brother. The superlative picks one out of the whole group: the tallest boy in the class. Nearly all of English comparison is choosing between two ways of building those last two.
Short adjectives take -er and -est
One syllable, and most two-syllable words ending in -y: cold, colder, coldest; tidy, tidier, tidiest. A final -y becomes -i, and a short vowel before a single consonant doubles it: fit, fitter, fittest.
Long adjectives take more and most
Two syllables or more, and not ending in -y: careful, more careful, most careful; interesting, more interesting, most interesting. Saying "interestinger" out loud is usually enough to tell you which group a word is in.
Never both at once
More taller and most tallest are the commonest mistakes in this whole topic. An adjective is made comparative once. Choose -er or more, and stop there.
The ones you simply have to know
good, better, best. bad, worse, worst. many, more, most. little, less, least. No rule builds these; they are older than the rule.
Worked example
Complete: "This puzzle is ____ (difficult) than the last one."
Count the syllables in "difficult": dif-fi-cult, three.
Three syllables puts it firmly in the more group.
Try it together
Let us build the degrees of two adjectives.
The first adjective is "easy", the second is "difficult". Watch which one takes an ending and which one takes a word in front.
1.Comparative of "easy": This puzzle is ____ than the last one. Write the one word.
Have a go
Which is correct?
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.