2.6.2: Comparative of Adjectives and Adverbs
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Comparative of Adjectives and Adverbs
With adjectives and adverbs of one syllable:
tall taller than
hard harder than
fast faster than
fat fatter than (Notice how you must double the consonant when an adjective ends in one
big bigger than vowel and one consonant.)
small smaller than
nice nicer than
clean cleaner than
Both of my sons are taller than I am.
My brother was much bigger than I was.
A dog is smaller than an elephant.
Women are cleaner than men.
With adjectives that end in Y (only rarely with LY):
busy busier than
lazy lazier than
crazy crazier than
heavy heavier than (Change the y to i and add er.)
happy happier than
pretty prettier than
friendly friendlier than
lonely lonelier than
early earlier than
cranky crankier than
My son Alex is heavier than my son André.
My sons and I are lazier than my wife at cleaning the house.
I am funnier than my wife.
People who live alone are lonelier than people who live with others.
Some women are prettier than other women.
Friendlier teachers are better than unfriendly teachers.
Some babies are crankier than other babies.
With adjectives and adverbs that have two or more syllables:
careful more careful than
carefully more carefully than
successful more successful than
successfully more successfully than
quick quicker than
*quickly more quickly than
smooth smoother than
*smoothly more smoothly than
easy easier than
*easily more easily than
beautiful more beautiful than
beautifully more beautifully than
expensive more expensive than
expensively more expensively than
sensitive more sensitive than
sensitively more sensitively than
sick sicker than
*sickly more sickly than
I am more careful than my sons.
I work more carefully than my sons.
My sons are quicker on the computer than I am.
They type much more quickly than I do.
English is easier for me than it is for my students.
I write more easily than they do.
Freeways are smoother than dirt roads.
Cars drive more smoothly over freeways than over dirt roads.
My wife was sicker than I was.
She acted more sickly than I did.
Children are more sensitive than adults.
Children react more sensitively to angry people than adults do.
* In common usage, many people use the er than form with short adverbs as well as with short adjectives. In formal grammar, however, it is better to use the more ----ly form.
Irregular Comparatives
good better than
well better than
bad worse than
badly worse than
far farther* than
far further* than
fast faster** than
hard harder** than
late later** than
(* Generally speaking, the words farther and further have basically the same meaning. Sometimes I will say farther and other times I will say further. However, only the word further can be used to mean another one or more of something.)
I went further in my education than my brother and sister did.
California is farther away from Seattle than Oregon is.
My son ate a hamburger and then he had a further hamburger.
(**The words fast, hard, and late are both adjectives AND adverbs of manner. Fastly is not a word in English; hardly means almost none of something, almost nothing; and lately means recently or in the past few days.)
My sons drive faster than I do.
They are faster drivers than I am.
The sun is out later in summer than in winter.
Some students come to class later than others.
Writing is harder than speaking.
I work harder than some other teachers do.
I am a good cook, but my wife is a much better cook than I am.
My son Alex cooks badly. My son André cooks worse than my son Alex does.
My wife speaks English fairly well, but I speak much better than she does, of course.
My sons write well, but I write better than they do.
Both of my sons have gone far in school, but I have gone farther than both of them.
Both of my sons have gone far in school, but I have gone further than both of them.
Exercise 50: Answer the following questions, please.
1. Who are you taller than?
2. Is America bigger or smaller than your native country?
3. What is more expensive, a pencil or a pen?
4. Is it warmer or colder in your country than in America?
5. What is bigger, an elephant or a mouse?
6. Is studying English more important than having good health?
7. Who speaks English more clearly, native speakers or foreign people?
8. Which animal is more beautiful, a cat or a rat?
9. Do old people or young people drive more slowly?
10. Who are lazier, young boys or young girls?
11. Where can you find more nutritious food, at home or in a restaurant?
12. Which subject is harder, English or math?
13. Who are busier, people with children or people without children?
14. Which do you think are prettier, mountains or oceans?
15. Is the weather today better or worse than the weather yesterday?
Exercise 51: Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the comparatives, please.
1. intelligent My sister is ------------------------------ my brother was.
2. frantically The girl was looking for her lost purse ------------------------- her boyfriend was.
3. important Love and health are ----------------------------- money.
4. heavy My brother was a lot --------------------------- I am.
5. quickly Some students come to class --------------------------- other students.
6. necessary For most jobs, spoken English is ----------------------------- written English.
7. good The weather in California is ------------------------ the weather in Washington.
8. curly My hair was ---------------------- my sister’s hair when we were young.
9. strong Men are usually physically ----------------------------- women.
10. difficult Flying a plane is ------------------------ than driving a car.
11. famous Seattle is ------------------------- Tacoma.
12. windy It is ------------------------ in fall ---------- in summer.
13. comfortable Couches (sofas) are ------------------------ chairs in general.
14. far away Mexico is ------------------------- Canada is.
15. happy Successful people are ------------------------ unsuccessful people.
16. bad Restaurant food is usually ------------------------ home-cooked food in my house.
17. hungry My elder son was ----------------------- my younger son.
18. expensive City-living is ----------------------- country-living.
19. cheap A long time ago, things were ------------------------ they are today.
20. high Buildings in downtown Seattle are ------------------------- buildings in West Seattle.
21. friendly Some people are ------------------------- other people.
22. fast Planes travel ------------------------ trains.
23. hard Writing a paragraph is ------------------------ writing a sentence.
24. warm California is ---------------------- Washington.
25. interesting For me, teaching English is ------------------------------ teaching math.
Exercise 52: Make comparisons with the following pairs, please.
Examples:
oranges and lemons: Oranges are sweeter than lemons.
elephants and mice Elephants are bigger than mice.
1. the sun and the moon
2. men and women
3. cars and horses
4. university and high school
5. winter and summer
6. trucks and cars
7. old people and young people
8. salt and sugar
9. airplanes and trains
10. American football and soccer
11. toys and guns
12. boys and girls
13. dogs and cats
14. comedy movies or drama movies
15. English and math
Exercise 53: Make comparative sentences with the following adjectives/adverbs, please.
1. rich
2. quickly
3. interesting
4. slowly
5. lazy
6. comfortable
7. healthy
8. legibly
9. slowly
10. fast
11. smooth
12. rough
13. important
14. foolish
15. easily