ET-7 Comparative Form of Adjective

Formation of Comparative Adjectives

There are two ways to make or to "form" a comparative adjective:

• short adjectives: add "-er"
• long adjectives: use "more"

Short adjectives: add -er

examples

1-syllable adjectives

old, fast

2-syllable adjectives ending in -y

happy, easy

RULE: add "-er"

old → older

Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -r

late → later

Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel, consonant, double the last consonant

big → bigger

Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the y to i

happy → happier

Long adjectives: use more

examples

2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y

modern, pleasant

all adjectives of 3 or more syllables

expensive, intellectual

RULE: use "more"

modern → more modern
expensive → more expensive

With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use "-er" OR "more":

quiet → quieter/more quiet
clever → cleverer/more clever
narrow → narrower/more narrow
simple → simpler/more simple

Exception: The following adjectives have irregular forms:

good → better
well (healthy) → better
bad → worse
far → farther/further

Use of Comparative Adjectives

We use comparative adjectives when talking about 2 things (not 3 or 10 or 1,000,000 things, only 2 things).

Often, the comparative adjective is followed by "than".

Look at these examples:

• John is 1m80. He is tall. But Chris is 1m85. He is taller than John.
• America is big. But Russia is bigger.
• I want to have a more powerful computer.
• Is French more difficult than English?

Equative

Equatives have the following form: as + adjective + as
Her academic writing class is as interesting as her health assessment class.

Non-equatives have following form: not + as + adjective + as
Merdeka Palace is not as famous as The White House.