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Comparative and
Superlative Adjectives
Inglés
 LEARNING PATHWAY

• With this worksheet, you will put into practice and consolidate your knowledge on
comparative and superlative adjectives.
• This topic is part of the unit related to adjectives and adverbs, as illustrated in the
following figure.

English Grammar Adjectives and Adjectives

adverbs

Superlative Comparative Adjectives

Adjectives

INDEX INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS
What are adjectives? Adjectives are
Adjectives
words that describe nouns, providing
Comparative Adjectives us with extra information. Such
information could be height (e.g.
Superlative Adjectives ‘short’ or ‘tall’) or how old someone
SOLVED ACTIVITIES (e.g. ‘young’ or ‘old’) or something is
(e.g. ‘new’ or ‘old’). Through
ANSWER KEY adjectives, we can also know
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE someone’s opinion on a given topic
(e.g. ‘beautiful’ or ‘delicious’). At the
ANSWER KEY same time, they allow us to recognize
SUMMARY how someone is feeling (e.g. ‘excited’
or ‘angry’).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 CONTENTS
Comparative Adjectives
We are going to use comparative adjectives for, as its name indicates, comparing two people,
places, or things (Hall & Barduhn, 2016). Through this process, we will indicate what is/are the
difference(s) between each other.

Comparative adjectives can be formed by adding the suffix ‘-er’ or by adding the words ‘more’
and ‘less’ before the adjective (Hall & Barduhn, 2016), depending on what we want to transmit.
We will know which form should be used by analyzing the number of syllables the word has. You
will find some examples depicting what we just mentioned below:

ADJECTIVE CHEAP FAST EXPENSIVE

COMPARATIVE CHEAPER FASTER MORE EXPENSIVE

How to form comparative adjectives

When the adjective has only one syllable

• -er rich → richer

When a short adjective ends in -e

• -r safe → safer

When a short adjective ends in a vowel + one consonant (e.g.: slow)

• -er near → nearer

 Remember
Don’t double ‘W’ low → lower (NOT lowwer)

When the adjective has two syllables and ends in -y

y → i + -er sleepy → sleepier

When the adjective is longer than two syllables

• more dangerous → more dangerous

There are some exceptions to the patterns we have exposed so far: these are irregular verbs.
Here we have some of them:

bad → worse
far → further OR farther
(Both options are possible)

Additionally, we will have to use the word ‘than’ after the comparative adjective for making
comparisons.

Emma is taller than Mariah.

This coffee is cheaper than that tea.
Superlative Adjectives
On the other hand, we have superlative adjectives. We will use superlative adjectives for
comparing people and things with all of the group they are in (Swan & Walter, 2001).

Some people think Chinese is the most difficult language to learn among all.

Or to talk about extremes (Hall & Barduhn, 2016):

Charlie is the friendliest boy I have ever met.

Remember
We always use ‘the’ before superlative adjectives.

SOLVED ACTIVITIES
The following activities will help you to put into practice what you learned throughout this
worksheet, giving you the opportunity to identify which area you need to reinforce.

• Read comprehensively.
• Go over and use this worksheet to support you.
• Do not look at the answer key until you finish the activities on your own. Challenge
yourself!
• If you have any questions on this topic, write them down and share them with your
tutor.
Good job!
1. Write comparative sentences.

e.g. Santiago is / expensive / Concepción.

Santiago is more expensive than Concepción.

a. My brother is / thin / me.

________________________________________________
b. Arsenal played / well / Chelsea.

________________________________________________

c. My old school was / exciting / my new one.

________________________________________________

To complete this activity, please check the examples in the segment called
‘Comparative Adjectives’. You will be able to correctly make comparisons after
finishing them.

2. Write superlative sentences.

e.g. Is this the most important part of the

test? (Important)

a. The ______________ month to visit them is January. (good)

b. Santiago is ___________________ city in Chile. (polluted)

c. Last Monday was __________________ day of the year. (cold)

To complete this activity, please check the examples in the segment called
‘Superlative Adjectives’. You will be able to correctly form superlatives after finishing
them.

Answer key
1.
a. My brother is thinner than me.
b. Arsenal played better than Chelsea.
c. My new school is more exciting than the old one.

2.
a. The best month to visit them is January.
b. Santiago is the most polluted city in Chile.
c. Last Monday was the coldest day of the year.
Test your knowledge
Here, a series of fill-in-the-blank activities are presented. You will have to complete the blank
spaces with the required information. This activity will help you to confirm how much you have
learned so far. If you have any questions, read and go over the text once again. If you still have
doubts, please take notes and share them with your tutor. Remember: the main objective of
this worksheet is that you learn. Good job!

1. Write the comparatives adjectives.

a. Big ………………………. g. Heavy ……………………….

b. Small ………………………. h. Beautiful ……………………….
c. Strong ………………………. i. Complex ……………………….
d. Interesting ………………………. j. Funny ……………………….
e. Weak ………………………. k. Long ……………………….
f. Easy ………………………. l. Noisy ……………………….

2. Write the irregular comparative adjectives.

a. Far ………………………. d. Little ……………………….

b. Bad ………………………. e. Many ……………………….
c. Well ………………………. f. Good ……………………….

3. Write the superlative adjectives.

a. Safe ………………………. g. Hungry ……………………….

b. Strange ………………………. h. Careful ……………………….
c. Wide ………………………. i. Important ……………………….
d. Lazy ………………………. j. Slim ……………………….
e. Dirty ………………………. k. Boring ……………………….
f. Intelligent ………………………. l. Hot ........................

4. Choose a comparative OR a superlative.

a. Tom and Anna are ………………………. John. (tall)

b. The kitchen is ………………………. room in the house. (cold)
c. Russia is ………………………. country in Europe. (large)
d. The sun is ………………………. the moon. (big)
e. Mont Blanc is ……………………….all the other mountains in the Alps. (high)
f. French fries are ………………………. option on this menu. (cheap)
g. Bus travel is ………………………. air travel. (cheap)
Answer key
1. Write the comparatives adjectives.

a. Big …………bigger………. g.Heavy ……….heavier……….

b. Small ………..smaller……… h. Beautiful ……more beautiful…..
c. Strong ………..stronger……… i. Complex ……more complex…..
d. Interesting ……more interesting… j. Funny …….…funnier.……….
e. Weak ……..…weaker……….. k. Long …………longer……….
f. Easy …………easier…….…. l. Noisy …………noisier……….

2. Write the irregular comparative adjectives.

a. Far ……farther/.further….. d. Little …………less………...

b. Bad ………worse…………. e. Many ……….more………….
c. Well …………better………. f. Good …………better……….

3. Write the superlative adjectives.

a. Safe …..the safest………. g. Hungry ...the hungriest…..

b. Strange …..the strangest….. h. Careful ..the most careful..
c. Wide …..the widest………. i. Important the most important
d. Lazy ..…the laziest………. j. Slim …the slimmest…….
e. Dirty ……the dirtiest…..…. k. Boring ..the most boring...
f. Intelligent ..the.most intelligent.. l. Hot …the hottest…

4. Choose a comparative or a superlative.

a. Tom and Anna are …taller than…. John. (tall)

b. The kitchen is ……the coldest……. room in the house. (cold)
c. Russia is …the largest……. country in Europe. (large)
d. The sun is ……bigger than……. the moon. (big)
e. Mont Blanc is ……the highest……….all the other mountains in the Alps. (high)
f. French fries are …the cheapest………. options on this menu. (cheap)
g. Bus travel is ……cheaper than……. air travel. (cheap)
 SUMMARY
To summarize, adjectives are words made for describing nouns. Among all the different
categories related to adjectives, we have the comparative and superlative ones. We will
use comparative adjectives when we want to compare two or more nouns, which are not
necessarily from the same group or category, while superlative adjectives will be used
when we want to make a comparison between a noun with others of the same group or
category, or talk about extremes.

Key words
Grammar; Adjectives;
Comparatives; Superlatives

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hall, D., & Barduhn, S. (2016). English for everyone: A comprehensive visual reference.
DK, Dorling Kindersley, USA.

Swan, M., & Walter, C. (2001). The good grammar book: A grammar practice book for
elementary to lower-intermediate students of English. 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
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