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Comparing Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe a person, place or thing:
a tall man a funny joke a difficult problem
Sometimes we need to compare things, so we need comparative adjectives.
Tom is taller than Milly.
Jay's jokes are funnier than Dave's.
Ahmed's problem with immigration was more difficult than Maria's.
There are three ways to compare adjectives:
| If an adjective has one syllable, add -er. (*See spelling rule.) | If an adjective has two syllables and ends with a "y", change the "y" to "i" and add -er | If an adjective has two or more syllables, don't change the word, but add "more" before the word. |
| taller than | funnier than | more difficult than |
| sicker than | uglier than | more pleasant than |
Do not forget than. It is part of the comparative adjective. Also, be careful to spell than correctly. Don't spell it then!
There are certain adjectives that are irregular. These include: good--better, bad--worse, far--farther.
*Spelling Rule:
If a one-syllable adjective has one vowel followed by one consonant, double the final consonant before adding -er: big--bigger, fat--fatter, sad--sadder.
But: tall--taller, short--shorter, brief--briefer, cool--cooler.
When an adjective ends with e, just add an r: large--larger, pale--paler, fine--finer.
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