Yellow Level

Lesson Six

The Comparative Form for Adjectives

 

 

Use “er” at the end of small words. (one syllable)

Use “more” in front of long words (2+ syllables)

A lion is bigger than a cat.

A lion is more dangerous than a cat.

The children playing with the blocks are

younger than the students going to school.

Here are some more examples:
  •  Saving money this year has been more difficult than last year.
  •  Japanese cars are much better than most American cars.
  •  Spanish is an easier language to learn than English.

Note: It’s not always necessary to use “than”

  •  Compared to last year, saving money this year has been more difficult.
  • Compared to American cars, Japanese cars are much better.
  • Compared to English, Spanish is an easier language.

The comparative form is used to show the difference between two things or two people, two groups of things, or two groups of people.

There are rules for using the comparative form. The table below will help you.

The Comparative Form for Adjectives
One-syllable words
two-syllable words    ending in y
 two syllables or more  not ending in y
add er
drop the y and add ier
use more / don’t add er
big  bigger
noisy noisier
dangerous  more dangerous
old  older
busy  busier
expensive more expensive
nice  nicer
crazy  crazier
comfortable  more comfortable
young  younger
lazy  lazier
humid  more humid
fast  faster
funny  funnier
tired  more tired
cheap  cheaper
dry  drier
acceptable  more acceptable
There are some exceptions: good, bad, far, and fun are adjectives that don’t follow the rules when making the comparative form.
good  better
bad  worse
far
 farther
 fun  more fun
  

Never use two comparatives together on an adjective:

more cheaper

more noisier

more older

Click here to practice what you know

about comparatives adjectives.

Next: Lesson Seven

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