Purpose
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to correctly form comparative and superlative adjectives for both short and long words.
Lesson Explanation
Comparatives compare two things; superlatives identify the extreme within a group of three or more.
Short adjectives (one syllable) add -er and -est:
tall → taller → the tallest big → bigger → the biggest (doubling the consonant)
Long adjectives (two or more syllables) use more and the most instead of changing the word itself:
beautiful → more beautiful → the most beautiful Several common adjectives are genuinely irregular and must be memorized directly:
good → better → the best bad → worse → the worst
Practice Questions
1. Write the comparative form of “tall.”
View Answer
taller
2. Write the superlative form of “tall.”
View Answer
the tallest
3. Write the comparative form of “big.” (note the spelling change)
View Answer
bigger
4. Write the comparative form of “beautiful.”
View Answer
more beautiful
5. Write the superlative form of “beautiful.”
View Answer
the most beautiful
6. Why does “beautiful” use “more” instead of adding “-er”?
View Answer
It has two or more syllables, so it uses more/the most instead of changing the word.
7. Write the comparative form of “good.” (irregular)
View Answer
better
8. Write the superlative form of “good.”
View Answer
the best
9. Write the comparative form of “bad.”
View Answer
worse
10. Write the superlative form of “bad.”
View Answer
the worst
11. Complete: “She is ___ (tall) than her brother.”
View Answer
taller
12. Complete: “This is ___ (interesting) book I have read.” (superlative)
View Answer
the most interesting