Comparatives and Superlatives

This is what I usually explain in class: the comparative/superlative form depends on the length (la longitud) of the adjective or the number of syllables; I hope you'll see this chart as useful as I tried to do it for you.

Comparing qualities

This is what you do when you compare 2 things or people; you use an adjective and you should have the comparative form according to the number of syllables of the adjective, but the general rule is that you shouldn't have more than 2 syllables after adding the particle. Keep in mind that the adverbs are a bit different when they end in -LY. As a reminder (recordatorio)  an adjective is a characteristic of something or someone (with nouns) and an adverb is a characteristic of an action (with verbs)

Look at this chart: 

1 syllable	2 syllables	3 or more syllables
You add -ER THAN clean = cleaner than big = bigger than yours dry = drier than	Ending in -y = -IER THAN easy = easier friendly = friendlier lovely = lovelier	You use MORE --- THAN expensive = more expensive than beautiful = more beautiful than
Exceptions: more bored than (boreder ???)	Ending in consonant =  MORE --- THAN careful = more careful than boring = more boring than	Adverbs ending in -LY = MORE --- THAN easily = more easily than

The superlative form is very similar:

1 syllable	2 syllables	3 or more syllables
You add  THE  -EST clean = the cleanest big = the biggest dry = the driest	Ending in -y = THE  -IEST  easy = the easiest friendly = the friendliest lovely = the loveliest	You use THE MOST --- in ... the most expensive car in the market the most beautiful picture in the museum
Exceptions: the most bored child	Ending in consonant =  THE MOST --- in the ... careful = the most careful person boring = the most boring film	Adverbs ending in -LY = THE MOST --- in ... easily = the most easily built

Apart from these, remember there are irregular comparatives and superlatives:

ADJECTIVE/ADVERB	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE
good / well	better (than)	the best
bad / badly	worse	the worst
far	farther / further	the farthest / furthest
little (for quantities/qualities)	less	the least
much / many (plural) (for quantities/qualities)	more	the most

If you want to practise I really recommend doing comparisons orally. You can start with:

• a dog, a cat and a canary
• a Mercedes, a Fiat and a Ferrari
• a car, a bicycle and a bus
• a house, a flat and a caravan

Example: I prefer a dog because it's nicer than a cat but a cat is more independant. A canary is the dirtiest pet but it's the easiest to have in a flat. A dog needs more room and more care than a cat.

If you need more practice with exercises, you can do it if you visit these webpages:

• exercise 1      exercise 2     exercise 3 (a list of exercises)

To finish with, there is a comparison of equality and it's formed with  AS + adjective/adverb + AS like in the following examples:

• My brother is as tall as my father
• A caravan may be as confortable as a small flat

Hope it's clear and you can use it!