Сравнительные и превосходные прилагательные

Comparative Adjectives

• Comparative adjectives describe differences in degree between two nouns or pronouns.

• They are formed in several ways:

  • For most one-syllable adjectives and some two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -er, add '-er' to the base form:
    • small becomes smaller
    • happy becomes happier
    • hot becomes hotter
  • For most two- or multi-syllable adjectives, use the word more before the adjective:
    • intelligent becomes more intelligent
    • interesting becomes more interesting
    • beautiful becomes more beautiful

Superlative Adjectives

• Superlative adjectives describe the highest or lowest degree of a quality among three or more nouns or pronouns.

  • For most one-syllable adjectives and some two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -er, add '-est' to the base form:
    • small becomes smallest
    • happy becomes happiest
    • hot becomes hottest
  • For most two- or multi-syllable adjectives, use the word most before the adjective:
    • intelligent becomes most intelligent
    • interesting becomes most interesting
    • beautiful becomes most beautiful

Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms

• Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms:
  • good — better — best
  • bad — worse — worst
  • far — farther (distance) — farthest (distance) or further (degree or extent) — furthest (degree or extent)
  • much/many — more — most
  • little — less — least

Usage in Sentences

• Comparative: Use comparative adjectives to compare two things.

  • Example: "The red apple is bigger than the green apple."
  • Example: "My sister is more intelligent than I am."
  • Example: "This movie is better than the last one."

• Superlative: Use superlative adjectives to compare three or more things.

  • Example: "The elephant is the largest animal in the zoo."
  • Example: "That is the most interesting book I have ever read."
  • Example: "He is the best player on the team."

Rules for Choosing Between Comparative and Superlative Forms

• Comparison between two: Use the comparative form.
  • "This cake is sweeter than the other."
• Comparison among more than two: Use the superlative form.
  • "This is the sweetest cake of all."

Adverbs

• Adverbs of degree modify the adjective
  • very, extremely, quite, rather affect adjectives in both comparative and superlative forms.
    • Example: "This is a very interesting book."
    • Example: This is the most extremely beautiful work of art I've seen.
  • more, less, the least are comparative indicators
    • Example: "This book is much less interesting than I expected."