Course on Comparative and Superlative - TOEIC® Preparation
Written by William D'Andréa
The comparative and the superlative are fundamental grammatical forms that allow you to compare and describe people, objects, and animals.
- The comparative allows you to compare two elements: one object/person is « more ... than » or « less ... than » another.
- Mary is taller than John.
- The superlative is used to express « the most ... » or « the least ... » within a group of three or more elements.
- Mary is the tallest student in her class.
In English, the formation of the comparative and the superlative follows different rules depending on the length of the adjective and its nature (regular or irregular). To make the course more readable, we have divided it into two parts, available by clicking on the links below.
The comparative
The superlative
Quick recap
- Comparative:
- Short adjective: adjective + -er + than → taller than
- Long adjective: more + adjective + than → more expensive than
- Irregulars: better than, worse than, farther than/further than, etc.
- Superlative:
- Short adjective: the + adjective + -est → the tallest
- Long adjective: the most + adjective → the most expensive
- Irregulars: the best, the worst, the farthest/furthest, etc.
