5. Comparison

Big, bigger or biggest?

Gina is a rich woman, but Jane is richer than Gina,
and Sophie is the richest woman in town.

This is called «comparison of adjectives».

If an adjective has only one syllable we usually just add the endings -er and -est:

  • cold – colder – coldest
  • warm – warmer – warmest

If the adjective has one vowel and one consonant, we double the consonant:

  • hot – hotter – hottest
  • big – bigger – biggest

Adjectives that end in -y go the same way, but notice the change from y to ie after a consonant:

  • happy – happier – happiest
  • angry – angrier – angriest

When the y follows a vowel, there is no change:

  • grey – greyer – greyest

We use more and most when an adjective has more than two syllables:

  • beautiful – more beautiful – most beautiful
  • important – more important – most important

Unfortunately there are also a few adjectives that refuse to follow the rules. Here are two of them:

  • good – better – best
  • bad – worse – worst

Complete this table by writing the missing words in the open spaces.
The first one has been done for you as an example:

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
big bigger biggest
thinner
worst
tiniest
ugly
gay
easy
difficult
most interesting
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