Comparative and Superlative

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Similar Vocabulary

high & tall

high for things that are wider than their vertical height
- Sherlock Holmes fell from the top of a high building.
- I put the books on a high shelf.
tall for things that are narrower than their vertical height
- Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world.
- My brother is six foot tall.

big & large

big for real and abstract things
- big city
- big house
- big decision
- big ideas
large for real things with a more formal tone
- a large population
- a large number of projects
- a large amount of money

Comparatives and Superlatives adjectives

Comparatives

Comparative adjectives tell us how something is different (the original smaller home of the BBC) or how something has changed (It’s busier than ever).

How do we form comparative adjectives?

In most cases, we add –er to the adjective to form a comparative (large - larger, fast - faster).
If the adjective finishes with a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern (like ‘big’), the final consonant is doubled when –er is added (big - bigger, fat - fatter).
If the adjective ends with a consonant + y, we change the y to an i (busy - busier, funny - funnier).
use ‘than’ to make a direct comparison with something else (I am taller than my brother.)

Superlatives

Superlative adjectives highlight something that is bigger, better or more than everything else (the largest live newsroom in Europe, the latest technology).

** How do we form superlative adjectives?**

we add –est after the adjective. We also use ‘the’ before the adjective (fast - the fastest, large - the largest).
If the adjective finishes with a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern (like ‘big’), the final consonant is doubled (big - the biggest, fat - the fattest).
If the adjective ends with a consonant + y, we change the y to an i (busy - the busiest, funny - the funniest).

irregular forms

adjective	comparative	superlative
good	etter (than)	(the) best
well	better (than)	(the) best
bad	worse (than)	(the) worst
ill	worse (than)	(the) worst
far	further (than)	(the) furthest

Much and more

The comparatives and superlatives are different in these sentences. We use ‘more’ before the adjective to make a comparative form and ‘the most’ to make a superlative. because these adjectives have 2 syllables or more and they don’t end in ‘y’:

The new Broadcasting House was the most expensive project in BBC history.
Having one central location makes the BBC more efficient.
The new ‘John Peel Wing’ is named after one of the BBC’s most popular presenters.
The new studios are more comfortable than the old ones.

When we make comparisons, we sometimes also use ‘much’ or ‘a lot’ before the adjective for emphasis:

The new building is much nicer than the old one.
I love this new furniture. It is a lot more comfortable than the old stuff.
Our studios are much more modern now.
My office is a lot bigger than before. It’s great! We do not use ‘much’ or ‘a lot’ with superlatives because they do not need extra emphasis!

Comparing nouns

When sentences compare nouns, not adjectives. We use ‘more than’ with a noun to mean ‘a greater number than’ and ‘the most’ with a noun to mean ‘the greatest number’.

The BBC reaches a worldwide audience of more than 150 million every week.
New Broadcasting House has more departments than the old building.
BBC One has the most viewers in the UK.

We can use much and many for emphasis. And much more before an uncountable noun (like chocolate or money) and many more before a countable noun (like friends or countries).

I feel sick. I ate much more chocolate than you.
I have many more friends in my hometown than I do here.

other forms of comparatives and superlatives

one of the most …

Broadcasting House is one of the most iconic buildings in London.
The BBC news team is one of the fastest in the world.
The new ‘John Peel Wing’ is named after one of the BBC’s most popular presenters.

… as adjective as..

use the structure as + adjective + as to describe two things that are the same in some way.

I am 3 years older than my brother but he is as tall as me. We are both 1m80 tall.
Despite many changes over the years, the BBC is still as important as ever in the UK and around the world.

All (of) the best

it contains all the latest technology. == it is the most advanced studio in the world, not one of the most advanced.
Broadcasting House contains all of the BBC’s most popular services. == All the best programmes are made in its studios.

Even better

“there are even more exciting things to see in the TV studios.” In this example, we use even for emphasis. For instance, we might say:

The original Broadcasting House was one of the BBC’s most important centres, but New Broadcasting House is even more important than before.
The Beatles were one of Britain’s most famous bands when they played at Broadcasting House in 1963. However, they got even more popular later that year.

Not as adjective as

Paul McCartney is not as old as my grandfather. (means the grandfather is more older than Paul McCartney)
Old Broadcasting House was not as modern as New Broadcasting House. (means New Broadcasting House is newer than the old building)

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