Comparative and superlative essay

Instituto del Rosario

Profesorado “Gabriela Mistral”

GRAMMAR III

Comparative and Superlative Degree

Profesora: Zulatto, María Ines.
Alumna: Vignetta, Yohana.

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
Form
Adjectives
One - syllable adjectives
Form the comparative and superlative forms of a one-syllable adjective by adding –er for the comparative form and –est for the superlative.
One-Syllable Adjective
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Tall
Taller
The tallest
Old
Older
The oldest

Note: If the one-syllable adjective ends with an e, just add –r for the comparative form and –st for the superlative form.
One-Syllable Adjective with Final -e
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Large
Larger The largest
Wise
Wiser
The wisest

Note: If the one-syllable adjective ends with a single consonant with a vowel before it, we double the consonant and add –er for the comparative form; and double the consonant and add –est for the superlative form.
One-Syllable Adjective Ending with a Single Consonant with a Single Vowel before It
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Big
Bigger
The biggest
Thin
Thinner
The thinnest

Two-syllable adjectives If the two-syllable adjective ends with –y, change the y to i and add –er for the comparative form. For the superlative form change the y to i and add –est.

Two-Syllable Adjective Ending with -y
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Happy
Happier
The happiest
Angry
Angrier
The angriest

Note: Two-syllable adjectives ending in –er, -le, or –ow take –er and –est to form the comparative and superlative forms.
Two-Syllable Adjective Ending with -er, -le, or -ow
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Narrow
Narrower
The narrowest
Gentle
Gentler
The gentlest

Note: With most two-syllable adjectives, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most.
Two-Syllable Adjective
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Peaceful
More peaceful
The most peaceful
Careful
More careful
The most careful

Adjectives with three or more syllables.
For adjectives with three syllables or more, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most.
Adjective with Three or More Syllables
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Generous
More generous
The most generous
Important
More important
The most important

Irregular adjectives
There are few adjectives whose comparative and superlative forms are completely different words.
Irregular Adjective
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Good
Better The best
Bad
Worse The worst
Far
Farther
The farthest
Little
Less
The least
Many
More The most

Two-syllable adjectives that follow two rules These adjectives can be used with -er and -est and with more and most.
Two-Syllable Adjective
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Clever
Cleverer The cleverest
Clever
More clever The most clever
Gentle
Gentler
The gentlest
Gentle
More gentle
The most gentle
Friendly
Friendlier
The friendliest
Friendly
Fore friendly
The most friendly
Quiet
Quieter The quietest
Quiet
More quiet
The most quiet
Simple
Simpler
The simplest
Simple
More simple
The most simple

IMPORTANT
The usual comparative and superlative forms of the adjective old are older and oldest. However, the alternative forms elder and eldest are sometimes used. Elder and eldest are generally used to talk about the age of people, especially people within the same family, and are not used to talk about the age of things. Elder cannot occur in the predicative position after link verbs such as be, become, get, etc.

Than is used with comparatives.
E.g. John is better than Nick John is a better lawyer than Nick

The is used with superlatives.
E.g. Tom is the best player Tom is the best
Note: We do not use the with the superlative if there is a possessive. E.g. His strongest point is his ambition.

Adverbs
Form
One-syllable Adverbs
There are a few one-syllable adverbs whose comparative and superlative forms are formed by adding –er and –est.
One-syllable Adverb
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Hard
Harder
The hardest
Fast
Faster The fastest

Other adverbs
With LY adverbs (adverbs formed from adjectives by adding -ly to the end) we form the comparative and superlative forms with more and most.
Other Adverbs
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Carefully
More carefully
Most carefully
Quietly
More quietly
The most quietly

Irregular Forms
These are a few adverbs whose comparative and superlative forms are completely different words.
Irregular forms
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Well
Better
The best
Badly
Worse The worst
Far
Farther/Futher The Farthest/ Furthest little less least much more most Function
Uses: Adjectives

We use the comparative form + than to compare two people or things.
E.g: John is taller than Jim. My House is more attractive than yours.
We use the + superlative form + of/in to compare one person or thing with more than one person or thing in the same group. (We use in when we talk about places)
E.g: John is the tallest of all. New York is the most exciting city in the USA (NOT: of the USA)
We use comparative + and + comparative to show that something increases or decreases.
E.g: He tried harder and harder until he opened the door. As time went by, he got more and more impatient.
We use the + comparative…, the + comparative to show that two things change together or that one thing depends on another thing.
E.g: The longer he talked, the more confused they became.
We use irregular comparatives to make a comparison stronger.
E.g: This apartment is much better than that one.
Uses: Adverbs
We use the comparative form of adverbs + than to compare one action with another. E.g: Anna runs faster than John.
Note: When we compare actions, we use an auxiliary at the end of the sentence E.g: Mary plays better than Monica does.
We can also say : Mary plays better than Monica
We use the superlative form of adverbs to compare more than two actions. E.g. Kate worked the hardest of all the girls in her class.

We use as + adverb + as to show similarities. In negative sentences we use not as/so + adverb + as. E.g: I can run as fast as you can.

We use the comparative form of adverbs + and + the comparative form of adverbs to show that an action is increasing or decreasing. E.g. We visit them more and more frequently. He solved the problems less and less easily
We use the + comparative form of adverbs…., the + comparative form of adverb to show that two actions change together or that one action depends on the other. E.g: The more I scold her, the worse she behaves.
We use the least + adverb + of/in to compare one action to two or more actions in the same group. The opposite is the most…of/in. E.g: She speaks the least loudly of all the children.

Possible Difficulties
Students may use “more” with the suffix –er for comparatives.
E.g: I am more happier than ever.
Students may use most with the suffix –est for comparatives.
E.g: She is the most happier in her class.
Students may not double the consonant in one-syllable words or other way around.
E.g: The cat is biger than the dog This dress is shorten.
When comparing students may use “that” instead of “than”.
E.g: My car is faster that your car.
Students may make regular the irregular comparative or the superlative form.
E.g: My father is the goodest football player.

What am I going to teach in my English class?
1st Comparatives (Adjectives)
One syllable adjectives (-er)
Two syllable adjectives (more)
Irregular forms
2nd Superlatives (Adjectives)
One syllable adjectives (-est)
Two syllable adjectives (most)
Irregular forms

Context
Characters
I will show my students two pictures of different characters. Then, I will compare them using comparative adjectives.

The Wicked Queen is older than Snow White.
Snow white is younger than Wicked Queen.
The Wicked Queen is shorter than Snow White.
Snow White is taller than The Wicked Queen.
The Wicked Queen is uglier than Snow White.
Snow White is more beautiful than The Wicked White.
Snow White is a better person than The Wicked White.

Guinness World Records
I will show my students some pictures related to some Guinness World Records. Then, I will give information about them using superlative adjectives.

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
Sultan Kösen is the tallest man in the world.
Chandra Bahadur Dangi is the shortest man in the world.
Gareth Bale is the most expensive footballer in the world
Most mascots dancing at same time is the most important Guinness World Record ever.
Animals
A tourist guide in a Temaiken journey gives information about all the animals that live there.
Comparatives:
The cheetah is faster than the Bengal tiger.
The mandarin duck is smaller than the cappuccino duck.
The clownfish is more beautiful than the hippocampus.
The yacaré negro is longer than the yacaré overo.

Superlatives:
The capybara is the largest rodent in the world.
The bongo antelope is the shiest antelope in the forest.
The cheetah is the fastest animal in the world.
The black swan is the most sociable swan.

Places to visit
A couple wants to pay a trip for their daughter’s birthday, so they go to a travel agency. One of them has been looking information about Disney and the other one about Brazil.
John says to his wife that he prefers Disney because:
It is more exciting than Brazil.
It is safer than Brazil
In Disney there are more interesting attractions to do than in Brazil.
It is the funniest place in the world for young people.
On the other hand, Jane says to her husband that she prefers Brazil because:
It is bigger than Disney.
It is less expensive than Disney
It is more peaceful than Disney
It has more nightlife than Disney
It has the most beautiful beaches in the world