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How to use comparative adjectives in English?

By: Isabel McKay Thu Sep 19 2024
English
Adjectives, Sentence Structure

A comparative adjective is a word for making a comparison between two people, places, things, or ideas, by saying that one has a larger or smaller amount of some quality than the other. Look:

A drawing of a blue Victorian mansion.

my house

comparative adjective

My house is bigger than your house.

comparative adjective

Your house is less fancy than my house.

comparative adjective

Your house is just as old as my house.

A drawing of a green and yellow cottage.

your house

In this post, we’ll be looking at the important points you need to know about comparative adjectives:

  • how to form a comparative adjective

  • how to put comparative adjectives into your sentences

  • how to use comparative adjectives in your day-to-day speech

We’ll also cover some more advanced ways that you can use comparative adjectives to indicate change over time, to compare two qualities of a single thing, and even to pick out the individual with the most of a quality in a group (which is usually what superlative adjectives do!).

Is your understanding of comparative adjectives less than you want it to be? Read on and get a better idea of this useful grammar point.

Table of Contents

    How to form a comparative adjective?

    Comparative adjectives are made from regular English adjectives. There are three main kinds of comparative adjectives:

    Comparative of Majority → X > Y

    • adjective + -er

    • yellower, newer, faster, sleeker...

    • more + adjective

    • more modern, more energy-efficient...

    A drawing of a yellow modern sporty car.

    Comparative of Minority → X < Y

    • less + adjective

    • less yellow, less modern, less speedy, less energy-efficient...

    A drawing of an aqua car that looks like it's from the 1940s or 1950s.

    Comparative of Equality → X = Y

    • as + adjective

    • as expensive, as comfortable, as well-loved...

    Let’s have a closer look at these forms!

    How to form comparative adjectives of majority in English?

    English comparative adjectives of majority describe the noun with more of a quality (X > Y). There are two ways to form them:

    • adjective + -er → for short adjectives

    • more + adjective → for long adjectives

    There are also a few irregular comparative adjectives of majority.

    Let’s look more closely at those rules!

    When to form comparative adjectives with ‘-er’?

    You can usually form a comparative adjective using the -er ending when the adjective has one syllable or sometimes two syllables.

    • All adjectives that are one syllable have comparative forms with -er:

      • big → bigger(more big)

      • small → smaller(more small)

      • fast → faster(more fast)

      • slow → slower(more slow)

      Exception!

      A few one-syllable adjectives should be formed with more instead:

      • Past participles (e.g. bored, lost...)

      • A few other words: right, wrong, fun, real, worth, ill

      For more information on these words, have a look at this table of one-syllable adjectives that have more comparative forms!

    • Some adjectives with two syllables have a comparative form with -er.

      • All two-syllable adjectives ending in -y (pronounced “ee”)

        • happy happier

        • friendly friendlier

        • sleepy sleepier

        • skinny skinnier

      • Some adjectives with other endings as well

        • little littler

        • yellow → yellower

        • handsome handsomer

        • polite politer

        • common commoner

      For more examples and details, check out this list of two-syllable adjectives with -er comparative forms!

      Tip

      Most two-syllable adjectives will also have a comparative form with more.

    🥸 Spelling watch!

    When you add an ending that begins with a vowel to an English word, there are some special spelling rules you’ll need to follow. These rules are why you’ll see, for example:

    • hot → hotter hoter

    • blue → bluer blueer

    • happy → happier happyer

    Luckily, though, these rules do not affect pronunciation!

    Check out this cheat sheet for spelling words with the -er suffix in English to see the detailed list of rules.

    When to form a comparative adjective with ‘more’?

    When an adjective has two or more syllables (use·ful / im·por·tant), you can usually add the word more before the adjective to create the comparative form. You can think of this as the “two-or-more syllables rule.”

    • useful → more useful

    • important → more important

    Exception!

    When a two-syllable adjective has an -er comparative form, the more form is often allowed as well, but not always!

    • happy happier / more happy

    • sleepy sleepier / more sleepy

    Usually, there is no meaning difference between the two options, but one option is usually more common. You can have a look at the list of two-syllable adjectives with -er comparative forms to learn about how to choose between the -er and more comparative when there are two options!

    Tip

    In casual conversation, English speakers probably will not notice if you use the more comparative, even if the -er comparative is actually correct (e.g. more big instead of bigger, more sleepy instead of sleepier...). It is only in more formal situations that using more for a word that should use -er will stand out.

    Irregular comparative adjectives: the good, bad, and the “worse”

    There is a small group of adjectives that are irregular when changed to comparative adjectives. That means they don’t follow the rules! Look:

    Adjective
    Comparative adjective

    good

    better

    well(healthy)

    better

    bad

    worse

    far

    farther / further

    little

    less

    much / many

    more

    When to form a comparative adjective with ‘less’?

    Form a comparative adjective with less when you want to describe the noun that has the smaller amount of a quality, instead of the noun that has a larger amount.

    • John is more athletic than Peter. Peter is less athletic than John.

    • Fido is cuter than Snowy. Snowy is less cute than Fido.

    English speakers usually try to avoid using less, especially with short adjectives. You can avoid using less

    • by reversing the sentence (as in the examples above)

    • by using the -er or more form with the opposite meaning. For example:

      • 🆗 Peter is less big than John.

      • Peter is smaller than John.

    • by using a comparative of equality in a negative sentence:

      • 🆗 Fido is less smelly than Snowy.

      • Fido is not as smelly as Snowy.

    When to form a comparative adjective with ‘as’?

    Form a comparative adjective with as when you want to describe a noun that has the same amount of a quality. Just use as before any adjective:

    • John is just as tall as Peter.

    • Fido is exactly as old as Snowy.

    • John’s car is as comfortable as Mary’s car.

    Tip

    We often use just before a comparative with as. This is especially common when you are correcting an assumption.

    Remember that the negative of a comparative of equality has the same meaning as a comparative of minority:

    • Fido is not as smelly as Snowy. = Fido is less smelly than Snowy.

    How to make English comparisons with comparative adjectives?

    Make English comparisons with comparative adjectives by following the formula below:

    noun

    be

    comparative adjective

    than / as

    noun

    (be)

    Marcus is stronger than Peter (is).

    Peter is less athletic than Marcus (is).

    Marcus is just as smart as Peter (is).

    Important

    Use than with comparatives of majority (X > Y) or minority (X < Y) and as with comparatives of equality (X = Y).

    Tip

    Notice the difference between than(for comparisons) and then(for events in a sequence). Many English speakers pronounce these words the same way, but they are spelled differently.

    • John is stronger than Peter.

    • John went to the gym then he ate dinner.

    If you want to be a little more specific, you can add a noun after the comparative adjective:

    (a / an)

    comparative adjective

    noun

    Marcus is a stronger person than Peter (is).

    Peter is a less athletic person than Marcus (is).

    Exception!

    The formula is a little different for comparisons of equality!

    comparative adjective

    (a / an)

    noun

    Peter is just as smart a person as Marcus (is).

    Here are a couple more tips:

    • With context, you can leave out than/as and anything that follows it:

      • Marcus is stronger than Peter is. = Marcus is stronger than Peter.

      • Peter is less athletic than Marcus is. = Peter is less athletic than Marcus.

      • Marcus is just as smart as Peter is. = Marcus is just as smart as Peter.

      • Speaker A:

        Which of the two men is stronger (than the other)?

        Speaker B:

        Marcus is stronger (than Peter).

      • Marcus is very strong, but Peter is less athletic (than Marcus).

      • Speaker A:

        Peter is very smart!

        Speaker B:

        Marcus is just as smart (as Peter)!

    Now, let’s look at three more rules to remember when making comparisons in English:

    Should you use subject pronouns or object pronouns in comparisons?

    When we replace the second item with a pronoun, we sometimes replace the second item with a subject pronoun and we sometimes use an object pronoun. There is a simple rule to remember which one to use:

    Use a subject pronoun before is.

    Elsewhere, use the object pronoun.

    For example:

    Brian is taller than he is.

    Sam is as old as he is.

    Brian is taller than him.

    Sam is as old as him.

    A drawing of a taller white boy in a red long-sleeved shirt, gray shorts, and sneakers.

    Brian

    5 feet, 2 inches

    10 years old

    A drawing of a short white boy in a green long-sleeved shirt, gray knee-length pants, and tennis shoes.

    Sam

    4 feet, 4 inches

    10 years old

    In general, using the object pronoun sounds more conversational, and using the subject pronoun + be sounds more formal.

    Tip

    In very formal settings you may hear a subject pronoun used without be, but this is old-fashioned:

    He was more forgiving than I.

    How to use other verbs to make comparisons?

    You can make comparisons between two nouns using verbs other than be. Here are some ways to do this:

    • Use another linking verb, like have, seem, appear, or look, in the same sentence pattern:

      verbcomparative adjective

      Mary appears smarter than Cathy.

      Mary seems more informed than Cathy.

      Cathy doesn't look as ready for the test as Mary.

    • Use comparative adjectives to compare the objects of two different actions:

      verbcomparative adjectivenoun

      Mary could speak better English than Cathy.

      Mary spoke good English, Cathy did not.

      Mary will study harder problems than Cathy.

      Mary will study 30 problems; Cathy will study 15 problems.
    • Use comparative adjectives in a prepositional phrase:

      verbprepositional phrasecomparative adjectivenoun

      Cathy did not work for as many hours as Mary.

      Cathy studied for 4 hours; Mary studied for 8 hours.

    All of the sentences above actually have a full second verb that we do not pronounce. Though we almost never say the full second verb, we do often add the auxiliary verb that goes with the verb. If there is no auxiliary verb, you can add do:

    With a full second verb (not common)
    With only the auxiliary verb (common)

    Mary seems more informed than Cathy seems.

    Mary seems more informed than Cathy does.

    Mary will study harder problems than Cathy will study.

    Mary will study harder problems than Cathy will.

    Cathy doesn’t look as ready for the test as Mary looks.

    Cathy doesn’t look as ready for the test as Mary does.

    Mary could speak better English than Cathy could speak.

    Mary could speak better English than Cathy could.

    Mary will study harder problems than Cathy will study.

    Mary will study harder problems than Cathy will.

    Cathy did not work for as many hours as Mary worked.

    Cathy did not work for as many hours as Mary did.

    Tip

    Sometimes the auxiliary verb will change when you are making comparisons across time and with modals:

    Cathy should study harder problems than she does.

    Important

    Sometimes a comparison with a word that takes an object can have two meanings:

    Mary has better friends than Cathy.

    Mary’s friends are better than Cathy’s friends. OR Mary has friends. Cathy is one of Mary’s friends. Mary’s other friends are better.

    You can make your meaning clear by adding the second verb:

    Mary has better friends than Cathy has / does.

    Mary’s friends are better than Cathy’s friends.

    What are “qualifiers” for comparative adjectives?

    A qualifier (or qualifying adverb) is a word that comes before an adjective and tells you “how much” of a quality something has — is someone very tall or a little bit tall?

    When we use a qualifier before a comparative adjective, the qualifier tells you about how big the difference you’re describing is. Is it a bigger difference than someone would guess or a smaller difference?

    Here are some examples of how to use qualifiers with a comparative adjective.

    • much:

      He is much taller than his brother.

      There is a large difference in height.
    • far:

      The situation is far worse than we thought.

      There is a large difference between how bad we thought the situation is and how bad it actually is.
    • a little:

      My cup is a little fuller than your cup.

      The difference between the amount in your cup and the amount in my cup is small.
    • slightly:

      This car is slightly less expensive than the first one.

      The difference between the prices is small.
    • way:

      Mary’s cat Fluffy is way fatter than the rest of her cats.

      There is a big difference between the size of Fluffy and the size of her other cats.

    The qualifiers we use for comparative adjectives aren’t always the same as the qualifiers we use for other kinds of adjectives. Have a look at this list of the most common qualifiers you can use with comparative adjectives.

    You can now make basic comparisons in English! Want to learn more? Keep reading!

    An advanced discussion: What are some more ways to use comparative adjectives?

    In this section we’ll look at some more advanced ways to use comparative adjectives in English. We’ll talk about:

    • how to compare two qualities that are on the same scale (e.g. color, length,...)

    • a few different ways to make comparisons across time

    • how to use comparative adjectives to compare to the average

    • how to use a comparative adjective to create a superlative meaning

    Let’s have a look!

    Comparing two different qualities with comparative adjectives

    We can use comparative adjectives to compare two different qualities as long as those qualities are on the same “scale,” for example width (wide) vs. height (tall).

    To make this kind of comparison, use this sentence structure:

    noun

    be

    comparative adjective

    than / as

    noun

    be

    second quality

    The blue house is wider than the green house is tall.

    The blue house is as wide as than the green house is tall.

    A drawing of a blue Victorian mansion.

    60 ft. wide, 34 ft. tall

    A drawing of a green and yellow cottage.

    34 ft. tall

    Tip

    We do not generally use less comparatives in this structure.

    You can also compare two qualities that belong to the same thing. For example one house may also be both tall and wide. Or one house may be both green and yellow.

    • The blue house is taller than it is wide.

    • The small house is greener than it is yellow.

    Talking about change over time with comparative adjectives

    A comparative adjective is a great way to show that something changes over time. There are two main ways to do this:

    • by comparing something to itself at a different time

    • by adding the word and between two comparative adjectives

    Let’s look at them one at a time.

    How to indicate a change over time using a comparison?

    The simplest way to use a comparative adjective to show a change over time is to just make the tense before than and the tense after than different. Using time markers like today, soon, now, in a few months, etc. will help!

    • Rafa is a better tennis player than he was.

      Present Rafa is a better tennis player than past Rafa.
    • In two months, Peter will be stronger than he is now.

      Future Peter is stronger than present Peter.
    • Once he drives it for a while, John’s car will not be as new as it is now.

      The car in the future is less new than the car now.

    You can leave out the second verb if the time marker makes it clear that you are discussing a different time:

    • Next month, Peter will be stronger.

      Next month, Peter will be stronger than he is now.
    • Frumpy was a fatter cat before she went on a diet.

      Before she went on a diet, Frumpy was a fatter cat than she is now.

    If you use modal verbs, you can also compare a situation now with a situation at some imagined or hypothetical time:

    • Peter could be stronger than he is now.

      Peter is not strong, but if he tried harder, he would be.
    • Frumpy might have been thinner than she was.

      If Frumpy had been on a diet, she would be thinner.
    • Cathy should study harder problems than she does.

      If Cathy were wise, she would study harder problems.

    Here you can also sometimes drop the second part of the comparison. Can you figure out what is happening in this sentence?

    If the garden were wetter, the grass would be greener.

    This sentence is really:

    If the garden were wetter than it is, the grass would be greener than it is.

    ‘More and more’: Gradual change over time

    Another way to show change over time using comparative adjectives is to use the word and between two comparative adjectives. These phrases show gradual change over time: when something slowly becomes more or less than it was before.

    For example, Jimmy was bad at math. For three months, he studied a lot. Jimmy is now better at math (than he was three months ago!). You can say:

    For three months, Jimmy got better and better at math.

    So, if you use the comparative adjective twice, with an and between, you are indicating a gradual change in that quality:

    The tree grew taller and taller as the years went by.

    Fluffy got fatter and fatter over the years.

    Or how about this one:

    Cars are becoming more and more expensive these days.

    Did you notice that last example? When the comparative is formed with more instead of -er, we use: more and more.

    The same is true if something becomes less:

    I am less and less interested in cinema.

    Using a comparative adjective to compare to the “average”

    Sometimes, in casual conversation, English speakers will use a comparative adjective just to say that someone or something has more of a quality than is average.

    • She is a taller gymnast.

      She is taller than the average gymnast.
    • He’s one of the smarter students in my class.

      He is smarter than the average student.

    This is most common with comparative adjectives formed with -er, but you can also do it with comparatives with more and less as well.

    Using a comparative adjective to create a superlative meaning

    In general, a comparative adjective makes a comparison between just two individuals. If you want to make a comparison between one individual and a whole group of other people, you use a superlative adjective instead:

    comparative adjectivesuperlative adjective

    The antique car is older than the electric car.

    The antique car is the oldest car at the show.

    A superlative adjective compares something to a group, rather than to one other individual.

    But sometimes you can use a comparative adjective of majority (more / -er) or minority (less) to create a sentence with a superlative meaning. We do this by making a comparison between one thing and every single individual in a group, one-at-a-time:

    • Use than + an “every” phrase as the second part of the comparison sentence. An “every” phrase picks out all of the members of the group. These are usually phrases that start with every, all, each, or any.

      • This game was more exciting than any other match this season!

        It is more exciting than game 1, more exciting than game 2, more exciting than game 3, etc. So, the match was the most exciting game this year.
      • The goalie is faster than all the goalies in the league!

        The goalie is the fastest goalie in the league.
    • Use a negative verb I never saw / I haven’t seen with a comparative adjective.

      • I’ve never seen a faster goalie in my entire life!

        I have seen goalies 1, 2, and 3. She is faster than goalie 1, and goalie 2, and goalie 3, so she is the fastest goalie that I have seen.
      • A more exciting soccer game has not been played before!

        This is the most exciting soccer game that has ever been played.

    These are usually a little more emphatic or expressive than using a regular superlative adjective, but the meaning is the same.

    Summing up

    In this post, we talked about how to compare two people, places, or things using comparative adjectives. We learned…

    • Comparative adjectives compare 2 nouns or noun phrases:

      • To describe the thing with the large amount of a quality, use adjective + -er or more + adjective

      • To describe the thing with the small amount of a quality, use: less + adjective

      • To describe a thing with the same amount of a quality, use: as + adjective

    • Structure a comparison like this:

      first thing + verb + comparative adjective + than / as + second thing + (is)

    • We’ve also talked about how to use qualifiers like a lot, much, a bit, and slightly to describe the size of the difference.

    • Finally, we looked at some special kinds of comparisons:

      • Comparisons between two qualities: This dress is bluer than it is green.

      • Comparisons across time: This dress is bluer than it was yesterday.

      • And describing gradual change using comparative adjective + and + comparative adjective: The dress got bluer and bluer.

    Now that you’ve got a handle on these comparative adjectives, you can even look at English superlative adjectives and how they can make your conversations the richest and most exciting!

    But before you move on, why not take a look at the English comparative adjective activities that I’ve written up? It’s good practice and will help you to have a firm understanding of these uses!

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