Study materials
The adjective tall describes one person. To compare two, a tail is added to it.
Tom is tall.
Tom is taller than Leo.
Tom is the tallest in the class.
Tall is an adjective, a word that describes a person or a thing and answers “what is it like?”. An adjective has three forms. The plain form tall simply describes. The comparative taller compares two. The superlative the tallest picks one out of the whole group.
The verb is stays in its place in such a sentence. Ukrainian can say “Tom taller than Leo” with no verb, but an English sentence always has one.
Tom taller than Leo. → Tom is taller than Leo.
Short adjectives
Short adjectives take er, and the other participant is attached with than.
An adjective counts as short when it has one syllable. A syllable is one beat of a word with a vowel sound. Tall, cheap and big have one syllable each, happy has two (hap, py), and beautiful has three (beau, ti, ful). Words of two syllables ending in y also take er.
| Adjective | Comparative | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| small | smaller | er simply added |
| nice | nicer | the e was there, so only r |
| big | bigger | the consonant doubled |
| happy | happier | y became i |
The spelling changes by three rules. If the word already ends in e, only r is added. If a word of one syllable ends in one vowel and one consonant, the last consonant doubles. The vowels are a, e, i, o and u, and the rest are consonants. When two vowels stand before the last consonant, nothing doubles, and w never doubles. If the word ends in y after a consonant, the y becomes i.
hot → hotter, thin → thinner, wet → wetter
cheap → cheaper, slow → slower, cold → colder
easy → easier, funny → funnier, busy → busier
This bag is cheaper than that one.
Do not mix up than with then. They look alike, but then means “after that”.
A train is faster then a bus. → A train is faster than a bus.
Comparisons often come in questions. Which asks someone to choose between two things, and who asks about people. The two choices go at the end, joined by or.
Which is cheaper, the bus or the metro?
Who is older, you or your sister?
Long adjectives
Long adjectives take no ending. A separate word, more, goes in front of them instead.
Adjectives of three or more syllables count as long, such as beautiful, expensive and dangerous. So do most words of two syllables that do not end in y.
famous → more famous, careful → more careful, modern → more modern
This book is more interesting than that one.
The two methods never join in one word, so it is either er or more.
When it is clear what you compare with, the part with than can be left out.
I want a more comfortable chair.
The superlative
When you single one out from three or more, the same split applies. Short words take est, long ones take most, and the always stands in front.
| Plain form | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| fast | faster | the fastest |
| beautiful | more beautiful | the most beautiful |
This is the fastest train in the country.
The spelling rules are the same as for er.
big → the biggest, nice → the nicest, happy → the happiest
The place or group that one is picked from usually follows with in. When the group is given as a number, of is used.
This is the oldest street in Kyiv.
Sofiia is the youngest of the four sisters.
When you compare only two, the superlative does not fit. You need the comparative with than.
Ivan is the tallest than his brother. → Ivan is taller than his brother.
Three exceptions
A few of the commonest adjectives obey no rules at all.
good → better → the best
bad → worse → the worst
far → further → the furthest
Farther and the farthest are also correct in place of further and the furthest.
The split between two and all works here too. Better and worse compare two and go with than, while the best and the worst pick one out of all.
Your pancakes are better than mine.
Who is the best player in your team?
These forms are already comparisons, so more or most never goes in front of them.
more better → better, the most best → the best
When two things are equal
If the quality is the same in both, the adjective is left unchanged and packed between two instances of as.
My room is as bright as yours.
Long adjectives between the two as words do not change either, and more is not needed. Saying the same bright, a word for word copy of the Ukrainian, is not possible in English.
This film is as interesting as the book.
With not it means “not equally”. This is a softer way to say that the first has less of the quality.
Our flat isn't as big as yours.
Common mistakes
The first is building the comparison twice.
He is more taller. → He is taller.
The second is losing the article in the superlative.
She is best student. → She is the best student.
The third is building an exception by the rule.
This is gooder. → This is better.
The first is caught by counting how many times the word expresses the comparison. It should be once, either er or more. The second shows in front of the superlative, where the always stands. The third is caught by knowing the exceptions. Good, bad and far have their own forms and never take er.