Comparative Adjectives – English Grammar video lesson

In this English Video Lesson Valen is explaining the grammar rules on comparative adjectives and their usage. Learn how to compare two things in English!

Adjective is a part of speech that describes certain characteristics or attributes of a noun.

There are three degrees of comparison for English adjectives: positive degree, comparative degree and superlative degree. The positive degree of English adjectives is used for indicating attributes of an object without comparing these attributes with the attributes of another object (other objects). The positive degree is the form that corresponds with the vocabulary form of an adjective.

Comparative adjectives are used to compare two nouns. This lesson explains how to form the comparative adjectives in English, taking into consideration various cases and providing with the general rule and exceptions.

1) One-syllable adjectives

General rule:  Comparative adjectives are formed by adding “ER” suffix to the one-syllable adjective.

Examples:

tall – taller

smart – smarter

old – older

cold – colder

hard – harder

Examples of sentences:

Sue is a smart girl.

Sue is smarter than her brother.

2) One-syllable adjectives ending with consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC)

Rule: last consonant is doubled + “ER” suffix is added.

Examples:

big – bigger

hot – hotter

3) Two-syllable adjectives ending with “y”

Rule: “y” is changed to “i” + “ER” suffix is added.

Examples:

happy – happier

angry – angrier

4) Two-syllable adjectives that don’t end with “y” or longer adjectives

Rule: The comparative is formed by adding the word “more” in front of the adjective.

Examples:

honest – more honest

difficult – more difficult