Degrees of Comparison

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or properties of objects, for example: long, new,

beautiful.

It is important to remember that adjectives in English do NOT change, either by gender, or by numbers, or by cases:

a high tree

high trees

In English, as well as in Russian, there are three degrees of comparison of adjectives: positive, comparative, and superlative.

The Positive Degree denotes the quality of the subject, not comparing it with any other.

The Comparative Degree compares two subjects with similar qualities. Often when referring to a comparative degree, we use a conjunctive than.

The Superlative Degree indicates the superiority of an object among similar ones, possessing similar qualities of objects.

Further on the diagram you will see the basic rule how to form the degrees of comparison of adjectives:

 

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
If a word has only one syllable ending in –е: nice, fine	We add –r:   Nicer, finer	We add –est, and put the in front of an adjective:   the nicest, the finest
If a word has one syllable ending in one consonant: hot, big	We add -er and double the consonant:   Hotter, bigger	We add -est, double the consonant, and put the in front of an adjective:   The hottest, the biggest
If a word has one syllable ending in more than one consonant:   Long, fast	We add –er:   Longer, faster	We add –est, and put the in front of an adjective:   The longest, the fastest
If the word has two syllables ending in –y: Happy, lonely	-y changes to –i  and we add –er: Happier, lonelier	-y changes to  –i  и and we add –est, as well as the in front of an adjective: the happiest, the loneliest
If the word has two or more syllables: Beautiful, modern	We put «more» in front of an adjective: More beautiful, more modern	We put «the most» in front of an adjective: The most beautiful, the most modern

In addition, there are adjectives that do not follow the general rule:

good - better - the best

bad - worse - the worst

little - less - the least

much - more - the most