Forms of Comparatives and Superlatives

Forms in Comparatives

We put “-er” to the end of the adjective or adverb and put “than”.

Mount Fuji is higher than Mount Hood.

Mount Hood is lower than Mount Fuji.

Mount Hood isn’t higher than Mount Fuji.

It’s lower than Mount Fuji.

Forms in Superlatives 

We put “-est” to the end of the adjective or adverb and put “the” before the superlative adjective or adverb. If we talk about qualities in a specific place, we use "in" as a preposition before the place. If we talk about the qualities among people or things, we use "of" as a preposition. We can use ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc...) to talk about the rank with superlative adjectives.

Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps. ('In' preposition is used to talk about places)

Mount McKinley is the highest mountain in the USA. ('In' preposition is used to talk about places)

Mount K2 is the second-highest mountain in the World. (Ordinal numbers are used to talk about the rank)

Mount K2 is the highest of all. ('Of' preposition is used to talk about people or things)

We sometimes do not use 'the' with superlatives. The most two common examples are possessive adjectives or placing superlative adjective at the end and not directly before a noun.

For example…

He is her the best friend. 

My brother is the most excited when he watches Manchester United on TV. 

What about the long adjectives and adverbs? 

High and low are short adjectives. Adjectives or adverbs with two more syllables, such as in-te-res-ting, have more/most or less/least in front of them.

For example...

Action films are more interesting than documentaries.

Action films are less interesting than documentaries.

Documentaries aren’t more interesting than Action films. They are less interesting than Action films.

Documentaries aren’t less interesting than Action films. They are more interesting than Action films.

Documentaries are the least interesting programmes on TV. Documentaries aren't the least interesting programmes on TV. They are the most interesting programmes on TV.

Bungee jumping is the most exciting extreme sport in the world.   

Forms of Comparatives and Superlatives

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