Comparatives & Superlatives.

Forming comparatives and superlatives

How these forms are created depends on how many syllables there are in the adjective. Syllables are like “sound beats”. For instance, “sing” contains one syllable, but “singing” contains two — sing and ing. Here are the rules:

Adjective form	Comparative	Superlative
One syllable, ending in E. Examples: wide, fine, cute	Add -r: wider, finer, cuter	Add -st: widest, finest, cutest
One syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at the end. Examples: hot, big, fat	Double the consonant, and add -er: hotter, bigger, fatter	Double the consonant, and add -est: hottest, biggest, fattest
One syllable, with more than one vowel or more than one consonant at the end. Examples: light, neat, fast	Add -er: lighter, neater, faster	Add -est: lightest, neatest, fastest
Two syllables, ending in Y. Examples: happy, silly, lonely	Change y to i, then add -er: happier, sillier, lonelier	Change y to i, then add -est: happiest, silliest, loneliest
Two syllables or more, not ending in Y. Examples: modern, interesting, beautiful	Use “more” before the adjective: more modern, more interesting, more beautiful	Use “most” before the adjective: most modern, most interesting, most beautiful

How to use comparatives and superlatives

Comparative form.	Comparatives are used to compare two things. You can use sentences with “than”, or you can use a conjunction like “but”. John is taller than George. George is tall, but John is taller.
Superlative form.	Superlatives are used to compare more than two things. Superlative sentences usually use “the”, because there is only one superlative. Paul is the tallest in the class. George is tall, and John is taller, but Paul is the tallest.