adjectives in English (part 2)
Comparative form of Adjectives
When we compare things, people or even ideas we look at what makes them different from each other.
Comparative adjectives are used to show what quality one thing has more or less than the other. They normally come before any other adjectives.
! Tip - It's a good idea to learn opposites (antonyms) when learning adjectives.
For example:
TALL / SHORT
The man on the left
is taller than
the man on the right.
The man on the right is shorter than
the man on the left.
! Note - Have you noticed that when we are comparing two things like this we put than between the adjective and the thing being compared.
FAST / SLOW
A car is faster than a
bicycle.
A bicycle is slower than a car.
For example:
BIG / SMALL
The red bag is bigger than the
blue bag.
The blue bag is smaller
than the red bag.
FORMING THE COMPARATIVE
The way you form the comparative from an adjective depends – on the number of syllables and the spelling of the adjective.
|
Form |
Rule |
For example |
|
Words of one syllable ending in 'e'. |
Add -r to the end of the word. |
wide - wider |
|
For example:- A motorway is wider than a road. |
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|
Words of one syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at the end. |
Double the consonant and add -er to the end of the word. |
big - bigger |
|
For example:- |
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|
Words of one syllable, with more than one vowel or more than one consonant at the end. |
Add - er to the end of the word. |
high - higher |
|
Mount Everest is higher than Mount Snowdon. |
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|
Words of two syllables, ending in 'y'. |
Change 'y' to 'i', and add -er to the end of the word. |
happy - happier |
|
For example:- Some people seem to be luckier than other people. |
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|
Words of two syllables or more, not ending in 'y'. |
Place 'more' before the adjective. |
beautiful - more beautiful |
|
For example:- Arguably Rome is more beautiful than Paris. |
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! Warning - For every rule, there is at least one exception and there are also irregular adjectives that you need to memories as you come across them.
For example:-
- 'good' becomes 'better'
- 'bad' becomes 'worse'
- 'far' becomes 'farther' or 'further'
! Warning - A lot of people write "then" instead of "than"- avoid it as it's simply not correct, and let's face it, you would be marked down in a test or exam.
|
This is a box. |
BIG | SMALL
|
This is a small box. |
This is a big box. |
BIGGER / SMALLER | BIGGEST / SMALLEST
|
The blue box is bigger than the green box. |
The blue box is smaller than the red box. |
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|
The green box is smaller than the red box and the blue box. The green box is the smallest box. |
The red box is bigger than the blue box and the green box. The red box is the biggest box. |
|||
HIGHER / LOWER | HIGHEST / LOWEST
|
Mount snowdon |
Mount Fuji is higher than Mount Snowdon. |
Mount Fuji |
Mount Fuji is higher than Mount Snowdon, but lower than Mount Everest. |
Mount Everest |
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|
|
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LONGER / SHORTER | LONGEST / SHORTEST
|
River Danube |
The river Amazon is longer than the river Danube. |
River Amazon |
The river Amazon is longer than the river Danube, but shorter than the river Nile. |
River Nile |
|
The river Danube is the shortest river. |
The river Nile is the longest river. |
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CHEAPER / MORE (LESS) EXPENSIVE | CHEAPEST / MOST (LEAST) EXPENSIVE
|
John's car cost £15,000 |
John's car was less expensive than Jane's car. It's cheaper than Jane's car. |
Jane's car cost £25,000 |
Jane's car is more expensive than John's car, but less expensive than Bill's car. |
Bill's car cost £55,000 |
|
John's car is the least expensive car. It's the cheapest car. |
Bill's car is the most expensive car. |
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ADJECTIVE ORDER
Adjectives can be used to describe lots of things, from physical size, age, shape, colour, material, to more abstract things like opinion, origin and purpose.
We can use adjectives together to give a detailed description of something.
Adjective that express opinions come before all others, but it can some times depend on what exactly you want to emphasize.
- That's a nice, big, blue bag.
When we group adjectives together there is a general (sometimes flexible) rule for the position of each type of adjective, these are:-
|
Position |
1st* |
2nd* |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
|
Opinion |
Size |
Age |
Shape |
Colour |
Material |
Origin |
Purpose |
|
|
Nice |
Small |
Old |
Square |
Black |
Plastic |
British |
Racing |
|
|
Ugly |
Big |
New |
Circular |
Blue |
Cotton |
American |
Running |
You might swap adjectives that express an opinion and an adjective based on fact depending on what you wish to emphasize:-
For example:
- "She had a long, ugly nose." emphasizing the length of her nose.
- "He was a silly, little man." emphasizing that the man was silly.
This is just for fun as you wouldn't normally see so many adjectives in one description.
For example:
- "She had a big, ugly, old, baggy, blue, stripy, cotton, British, knitting bag."
Does it matter if you get it wrong? Well outside of exams and tests, it won't kill you, but people reading or listening to you will find it odd if you mix up the order.
Usual adjectives:
|
Shape |
Size |
Sound |
|
broad |
average |
cooing |
|
Speed |
Taste |
Time |
|
fast |
bitter |
ancient |
|
Touch |
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|
blunt |
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FEELINGS |
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|
Feelings - negative |
Feelings - neutral |
Feelings - positive |
|
afraid |
alright |
agreeable |
|
Appearance |
Condition |
|
adorable |
alive |
Possessive adjectives are used to show ownership or possession.
|
|||
|
I |
my |
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|
you |
your |
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|
he |
his |
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|
she |
her |
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|
it |
its |
||
|
Plural |
|||
|
you |
your |
||
|
we |
our |
||
|
they |
their |
||
For example:
- I own a laptop. = It is my laptop.
- You own this computer (I presume). = It is your computer.
- David owns a black car. = It is his car.
- Karen owns a house. = It is her house.
- We hope you all enjoy these lessons. = They are your lessons.
- The dog has a food bowl. = It is its food bowl.
- We love this website. = It is our website.
- Manchester United own a football ground. = It is their football ground.
! Note - You - Your = the same for singular and plural.
Superlative Adjectives
The superlative is used to say what thing, person, or idea has the most of a particular quality within a group or of its kind.
Superlative adjectives normally come before any other adjectives.
|
Snowdon is not the
highest mountain in Britain. |
||
|
Mount Snowdon is 3,559 feet high. |
Ben Nevis is 4,408 feet high. |
FORMING THE SUPERLATIVE
|
Form |
Rule |
For example |
|
Words of one syllable ending in 'e'. |
Add -st to the end of the word. |
wide - widest |
|
The Amazon River is the widest river in the world. |
||
|
Words of one syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at the end. |
Double the consonant and add -est to the end of the word. |
big - biggest |
|
In 2010 a dog called Giant George was given the title of the biggest dog in the world. |
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|
Words of one syllable, with more than one vowel or more than one consonant at the end. |
Add - est to the end of the word. |
high - highest |
|
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the word. (But it isn't the tallest mountain in the world.) |
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|
Words of two syllables, ending in 'y'. |
Change 'y' to 'i', and add -est to the end of the word. |
happy - happiest |
|
In 2013 Australia was named the happiest country in the world. |
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|
Words of two syllables or more, not ending in 'y'. |
Place 'the most' before the adjective. |
beautiful - the most beautiful |
|
Some people say that the Maldives have the most beautiful beaches in the world. |
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Don't forget that some adjectives are irregular:-
- 'good' becomes 'the best'
- 'bad' becomes 'the worst'
- 'far' becomes 'the furthest'
For example:
- "Jill is the best student in the class."
- "Jack is the worst student in the class."
- "In our solar system the planet Pluto is the furthest planet from the Sun."
! Note - Have you noticed that these superlatives are preceded by 'the'.
For example:
- "The Rio de la Plata river, on the southeast coastline of South America, is the widest river in the world."
- According to the List of World records Carol Yager (1960-1994), from Michigan, is the fattest person ever to live, weighing 725 kg (1,600 lb).
- "Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world."
- "I think that Castle Combe is the prettiest village in England."
- "Arguably, Rome is the most beautiful city in the world."
|
Adjective |
Comparative |
Superlative |
Example |
|
bad |
worse |
the worst |
Historians say that Hitler was worse than
Mussolini. |
|
far |
further |
the furthest |
Mars is further from the Sun than
Earth. |
|
good |
better |
the best |
Her English was better than the
teacher's. |
|
old (age) |
older / elder |
the oldest the eldest |
My sister Karen is older than me. My elder sister Karen is the eldest in our family. |
Used to something
They say you can get used to anything.
The use of used to do something is explained here. However, used to has another meaning, it can be used as an adjective and we use it to talk about things that have become familiar, and are no longer strange or new.
Used to usually comes after verbs such as be, get or become.
- After a while you get used to the noise.
- She will become used to the smell.
- I was used to the web site.
You can also say that someone is used to doing something.
- I'll never get used to getting up at six o'clock in the morning.
- It took me a while until I was used to driving on the right-hand side of the road.
Personality Adjectives Table
(A list of English adjectives used to describe people's personalities with dictionary look up - double click on any word for its definition and pronunciation)
POSITIVE |
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|
a - e |
f - p |
q - z |
|
adaptable |
fabulous |
quiet |
NEGATIVE |
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|
a - e |
f – p |
q - z |
|
abrasive |
fanatical |
quarrelsome |
