Comparative adjectives

Do you know how to use comparative adjectives like older, better and more interesting?

Look at these examples to see how we use comparative adjectives.

• The city is more interesting than the countryside.

• This house is older than my house.

• She's better at cooking now than before.

Explanation

Comparative adjectives are used to compare differences between the two objects they modify (larger, smaller, faster, higher). They are used in sentences where two nouns are compared, in this pattern: Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).

We use comparative adjectives to compare two things or show change. The comparative form depends on the number of syllables in the adjective.

Adjectives with one syllable

To make comparative forms with one-syllable adjectives, we usually add -er:

• old → older

• clean → cleaner

• slow → slower

If an adjective ends in -e, we add -r:

• safe → safer

• nice → nicer

If an adjective ends in a vowel and a consonant, we usually double the consonant:

• big → bigger

• hot → hotter

Adjectives with two or more syllables

If a two-syllable adjective ends in a consonant and -y, we change -y to -i and add -er:

• noisy → noisier

• happy → happier

• easy → easier

We use more to make comparative forms for most other two-syllable adjectives and for all adjectives with three or more syllables:

• crowded → more crowded

• stressful → more stressful

• dangerous → more dangerous

Exception: You can either add -er/-r or use more with some two-syllable adjectives, such as common, cruel, gentle, handsome, likely, narrow, pleasant, polite, simple and stupid.

• I think life in the countryside is simpler than in the city.

• It's more simple to live in the city because everything you need is there.

Irregular adjectives

The adjectives good, bad and far have irregular comparative forms:

• good → better

• bad → worse

• far → further/farther

Than

When we want to say which person or thing we are comparing with, we can use than:

• Their house is cleaner than ours.

• Traffic is slower in the city than in the countryside.

• After the race I was more tired than Anne.