17.1 – Language Summary – Comparisons

Many adjectives use more and the most to form comparatives and superlatives form.

more intelligent – the most intelligent

more useful     – the most useful

Exceptions to this are all the adjectives of one syllable and adjectives that end in -y or –ow or -er

easy            easier           the easiest  (also early, happy, pretty, etc.)

                   narrow         narrower       the narrowest (also mellow, shallow etc.)

                   able             abler            the ablest (also gentle, simple, humble, etc.)

                   clever           cleverer        the cleverest (also slender, etc.)

 

 

Most 1-syllable adjectives	Comparative + er	Superlative + est
small, great	smaller, greater	the smallest, the greatest
1 vowel + 1 consonant	Double final consonant + er	Double final consonant + est
big, wet	bigger, wetter	the biggest, the wettest

Note also the following irregular adjectives:

farther refers to distance – further means ‘additional’

To compare two people, things, or events, use a comparative adjective + than.

Microsoft is bigger than Amazon.

A Ferrari is more expensive than a Fiat.

The older generation is less likely than younger people to bank online.

To make an equal comparison (to say things are the same), you can use as … as.

Canada’s GDP per head is as big as Italy’s.

This book is the same price as that one.

 

To show non-equivalence (things are not the same), use:

Sweden’s inflation rate is not as low as Japan’s.

John’s essay was longer than Peter’s.

However, Peter’s essay was more carefully written than John’s.

The student did not do as much homework as his teacher had hoped.

   To compare more than two objects, we use a superlative form.

Zurich is the most expensive city in Switzerland.

The United States is paying the highest price for the right to broadcast the Olympic games.

 

Comparisons can be made stronger or weaker (qualify or quantify) by using modifiers such as a lot, a little, considerably, much, slightly.

This one is much/slightly/a lot bigger than that one.       

 

17.2 – The following table shows you the possible combinations to modify a comparison:

slightly		faster	than
much/ a lot /a little	more	economical	than
considerably / a lot / a little	less	expensive	than
a great deal / a lot / a little		slower	than
nearly	twice	as	much	as
about	half	as	fast	as
exactly	five times	as	expensive	as
over	70%	as	productive	as

To indicate two developments are directly related to each other, you can use the structure the more / the less. (parallel increase)

The more I read about comparisons, the less confused I am.

The bigger the problem, the more interesting he found it.

Repeating the comparative indicates an exponential increase.

It is getting harder and harder to find jobs abroad.