Making comparisons | Johnny Grammar | Learn English | British Council

Comparison of adjectives and adverbs

1. Comparatives and superlatives

We form comparatives and superlatives by adding -er and -est to one-syllable adjectives. When the adjective is vowel consonant (b i g), add an extra consonant (big+ger):

When Trevor bought a big car Brian went out and bought a bigger one. Brian's car was the biggest.

We use 'more' and 'most' for adjectives with 2 or more syllables:

Trevor decided to buy an expensive computer. So Brian had to go out and buy a more expensive computer.

A few adjectives have irregular comparatives and superlatives:

Mike had the best house in Charm Street.

1-syllable adverbs use -er and -est to form comparatives and superlatives:

Brian and Trevor worked in the same office and Brian worked much harder than Trevor.

'Well' and 'badly' have irregular comparatives and superlatives:

They both got on well with the boss, although Brian got on better...

All other adverbs use 'more' and 'most':

The boss also preferred Brian because he worked more efficiently.


2. 'As... as ...'

You can also make comparisons using 'as + adjective / adverb + as...:

Unfortunately, although Brian was as clever as Trevor, he was not as lucky as Trevor and as a result, he was not so happy as Trevor.
On the other hand, Brian earned twice as much as Trevor.