TOPIC :

Comparative Adjectives
We use comparative adjectives when talking about two things (not three or more
things). We can use comparative adjectives to describe the differences.( Nous
utilisons des adjectifs comparatifs lorsque nous parlons de deux choses (pas de trois
choses ou plus). Nous pouvons utiliser des adjectifs comparatifs pour décrire les
différences.)

In the example below, "bigger" is the comparative form of the adjective

"big"( Dans l’exemple ci-dessous, «bigger» est la forme comparative de
l’adjectif «big» )

A1 A2
A1 is bigger than A2.

Formation of Comparative Adjectives

There are two ways to make or to "form" a comparative adjective:

 short adjectives: add "-er" adjectifs courts : ajouter « -er »

 long adjectives: use "more" adjectifs longs : utilisez « more »

Short adjectives: add -er examples

One (1) syllable adjectives old, fast

Two (2)syllable adjectives ending in -y happy, easy

RULE: add "-er" old → older

 Short adjectives: add -er examples

Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -r late → later

(Variante : si l’adjectif se termine en -e, on ajouter -r)

Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant,vowel, big → bigger

consonant, double the last consonant and add -er

Variante : si l’adjectif se termine par consonne, une voyelle

doubler la dernière consonne et ajoute -er

Variation: if the adjective ends in -y,it change the y to i and happy → happier
add -er

(Variation: si l’adjectif se termine par -y, il change le y en i et

ajoute -er)

Exception: The following adjectives have irregular forms(Les adjectifs

suivants ont des formes irrégulières):

Irregular Comparatives And Superlatives

Adjectives Comparatives Superlatives

bad worse worst

far(distance) farther farthest

far(extent) further furthest

good better best

little less least

many more most

much more most

ETAYAGE
A - Choose the right answer :

1- The ____ you study for these exams, the ____ you will do.
hard - better
harder - more successfully
much - better
more - good
2- She doesn't really like vodka, so the ____ a bottle you find, the ____ it will be
for us!
small - cheaper
smaller - cheap
smaller - good
smaller - cheaper
3- My neighbor is driving me mad! It seems that the ____ it is at night, the ____
he plays his music!
later - more loud
late - louder
later - louder
more late - loud
4- He spent a year in India and loves spicy food. The ____ the food is, the ____
he likes it.
hotter - more
hot - much
hotter - much
hot - more
 5- Of course you can come to the party! The ____ the ____.
more - merrier
more - good
many - better
6- She will be really angry about that vase being broken! The ____ she knows
about it, the ____.
more - better
less - better
worse - worse
worse - better
7- He has 6 large dogs to protect his house. The ____ the dog, the ____ he
feels.
big - safer
biger - safer
bigger - safer
more big - more safe
8- Earning money has always been the thing that pleases him most. The ____
he becomes, the ____ he is.
more rich - happyer
richer - happyer
richer - happier
9- You must drive slower in built up areas. The ____ you drive in the city, the
____ it is that you will have an accident.
faster - probable
quicker - probably
faster - more probably
quicker - more probable

B - Check your grammar: true or false – comparatives and superlatives Are these
sentences True or False?
1. To compare two things, we add -er to many adjectives.
2. We add -est to make the superlative form of many adjectives.
3. We never change the spelling of the adjective before adding -er / -est.
4. We often use "than" after a comparative.
5. We often use "the" before a superlative.
6. With longer adjectives, we use "more" + adjective or "most" + adjective.
7. There are a lot of irregular comparatives and superlatives.

CORRECTION ETAYAGE

A - Choose the right answer :

1- The _ harder _ you study for these exams, the _ more successfully ___ you
will do.
2- She doesn't really like vodka, so the _ smaller ___ a bottle you find, the __
cheaper __ it will be for us!
3- My neighbor is driving me mad! It seems that the _ later ___ it is at night, the
__ louder __ he plays his music
4- He spent a year in India and loves spicy food. The __ hotter __ the food is,
the _ more _ he likes it.
5- Of course you can come to the party! The __ many __ the __ better __.
6- She will be really angry about that vase being broken! The _ less _ she knows
about it, the _ better ___.
7- 7. He has 6 large dogs to protect his house. The __ bigger __ the dog, the __
safer __ he feels.
8- the thing that pleases him most. The __ richer __ he becomes, the _
happier__ he is.
9- You must drive slower in built up areas. The __ faster __ you drive in the city,
the __ more probably __ it is that you will have an accident.

B - Check your grammar: true or false – comparatives and superlatives Are these
sentences True or False?
1. To compare two things, we add -er to many adjectives. ( TRUE)
2. We add -est to make the superlative form of many adjectives. ( TRUE)
3. We never change the spelling of the adjective before adding -er / -est. ( TRUE)
4. We often use "than" after a comparative. ( TRUE)
5. We often use "the" before a superlative. ( TRUE)
6. With longer adjectives, we use "more" + adjective or "most" + adjective. ( TRUE)
7. There are a lot of irregular comparatives and superlatives. ( TRUE)

FIXATION
1 - When do we use comparative adjectives ?
2 – when do we use the superlative adjectives ?
3 – when do we use ‘ The’ ?
4 – when do we use ‘ Than’ ?
5 – when do we double the last consonant and add -er ?
6 – How do we form comparative and superlative adjectives ?

Activities
1 – comparative and superlative choose the right answer

Linda is ( the shortest / the longest /shorter than / longer than) Suzi.

Laela is ( longer than / the shortest / shorter than the longest ) Ruth.

Samira is ( the shortest / longer than / shorter than / the longest.)

Keana is ( the shortest / shorter than longer than the longest.)

2-
Rose is ( the youngest / older than / the oldest / younger
than ) Lucas.
Lucas is ( the youngest / younger than / the oldest / older than Sam.
Sam is ( older than / younger than / the youngest / the oldest.)
Lucas is ( the youngest / older than / the oldest / younger than.)

CORRECTION FIXATION
A – COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

1 - We use comparative adjectives to show

change or make comparisons:
Example

 This car is certainly better, but it's much more expensive.

 I'm feeling happier now.

2 - We use than when we want to compare one thing with another:

Example

 She is two years older than me.

 New York is much bigger than Boston.

3 - When we want to describe how something or someone changes we

can use two comparatives with and:
Example

The balloon got bigger and bigger.

Everything is getting more and more expensive.

4 - We often use the with comparative adjectives to show that one thing
depends on another:
Example

 The faster you drive, the more dangerous it is.

(= When you drive faster, it is more dangerous.)
  The higher they climbed, the colder it got.
(= When they climbed higher, it got colder.)

Short adjectives: add -er examples

One (1) syllable adjectives old, fast

Two (2)syllable adjectives ending in -y happy, easy

RULE: add "-er" old → older

Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -r late → later

(Variante : si l’adjectif se termine en -e, on ajouter -r)

Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant,vowel, big → bigger

consonant, double the last consonant and add -er

Variante : si l’adjectif se termine par consonne, une voyelle

doubler la dernière consonne et ajoute -er

Variation: if the adjective ends in -y,it change the y to i and happy → happier
add -er

(Variation: si l’adjectif se termine par -y, il change le y en i et

ajoute -er)

B - SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES

The superlative is used to show that someone or something has more of a particular
quality than any other of their kind.
Superlatives are usually formed by adding the suffix -est to the end of the adjective,
and using the before it (e.g. the fastest), or by adding -the most before the
adjective (e.g. the most delicious, the most expensive).

How to form the superlative :

1 - Adjectives with one syllable
For adjectives with one syllable, we usually form the superlative by adding -est.
For example,
 It was the coldest winter in living memory.
 The coldest place on earth is in Antarctica.
Remark :
- If the adjective ends with a single vowel letter, followed by a single consonant,
we double the consonant.
For example,
 That summer was the hottest on record.
 London is the biggest city in England.
 What's the saddest movie you've ever watched?

- If the adjective ends with -e, this is removed, and -est is added.
For example,
 nice/nicest - She was the nicest girl in my class.
 blue/bluest - That summer’s day, the sky was the bluest blue we’d ever seen.

- If the adjective ends with a consonant followed by -y, the -y is replaced by -i

and -est is added.

For example dry/driest

The Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar desert in the world.

2 - Adjectives with two syllables

As with one-syllable adjectives, if the adjective ends with a consonant followed by -y,
the -y is replaced by -i and -est is added.
For example,

 happy/happiest – On the day I married my husband I was the happiest woman

in the world.
 messy/messiest – Our teenage son has the messiest bedroom you’ve ever
seen.

3 - Adjectives with two or more syllables not ending in -y

Place the most before the adjective.
For example:
 the most complicated
 the most beatiful
 She was the most attractive woman in the room.

Irregular Comparatives And Superlatives

Adjectives Comparatives Superlatives

bad worse worst

far(distance) farther farthest

far(extent) further furthest

good better best

little less least

many more most

much more most

EVALUATION
1 - Choose the correct answer.
 1. It's becoming ( more and more hard / harder and harder ) to secure a good

job nowadays.

2. My sister is probably ( the more / the most ) important person in my life.

3. We find that we have ( far less / lesser ) time to relax now that we have

children.

4. Out of the two of them, she was ( a bit / far and away ) the better singer.

5. The ( worse / worst ) thing by far about being unemployed is having no

money.

6. Tom and Margot are ( easily / easiest ) the best students in my class.

7. My exam results are only ( marginally / quite ) worse than yours.

8. The slower you work, the ( longest / longer ) the job will take you to finish.

2 - Complete the sentences, using the positive, comparative and superlative of the
adjectives in brackets.

1. Dad's car is much…………. than mine. (fast)

2. I think scuba diving is …………… than climbing. (fascinating)
3. His thirst grew ……………. and ………….. (big / big)
4. He thinks this test was ………………. than the last one. (difficult)
5. They live in a really ………………. house. (beautiful)
6. She is the…………….. tennis player of the world. (good)
7. Susan is a ………….. girl. She's much than her sister. (nice / nice)
8. This suitcase is ……………… than the others. (heavy)
9. Hotels in London are ……………….. than in Vienna. (expensive)
10. Bob is………………. than Keith, but Phil is the . (tall / tall)
11. Doris reads ………………. books than Peter, but Frank reads the . (many /
many)
12. France is as……………………….. as Spain. (beautiful)

EVALUATION CORRECTION
Choose the correct answer.

It's becoming harder and harder to secure a good job nowadays.

1. My sister is probably the most important person in my life.

2. We find that we have far less time to relax now that we have children.

3. Out of the two of them, she was far and away the better singer.

4. The worst thing by far about being unemployed is having no money.

5. Tom and Margot are easily the best students in my class.

6. My exam results are only marginally worse than yours.

7. The slower you work, the longer the job will take you to finish.

2 - Complete the sentences, using the positive, comparative and superlative of the
adjectives in brackets.

1. Dad's car is much…faster………. than mine.

2. I think scuba diving is …more fascinating…… than climbing.
3. His thirst grew …… bigger…. and … bigger ………..
4. He thinks this test was … more difficult ………. than the last one.
5. They live in a really …… more beautiful ………. house.
6. She is the…best….. tennis player of the world.
7. Susan is a … nicer….. girl. She's much than her sister.
8. This suitcase is …… heavier …… than the others.
9. Hotels in London are …… more expensive …….. than in Vienna.
10. Bob is…… taller …. Keith, but Phil is the tallest .
11. Doris reads ……more…. books than Peter, but Frank reads the most .
12. France is as…more beautiful ….. as Spain.