Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

by Miss Harries

​Comparative Adjectives

​A comparative adjective is used to compare one person, action, thing or state to another.

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​It adds the suffix -er to the original adjective.

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​e.g. bright - > brighter

Multiple Choice

What comparative adjective would you add to this sentence:

Your car is __________ than mine.

• big

• biggest

• bigger

• biggerest

Multiple Choice

What comparative adjective would you add to this sentence:

The girl was running __________ than her dog.

• fastest

• fasterest

• fast

• faster

​Superlative Adjectives

​A superlative adjective is used to compare one person, action, thing or state to all others in the same group.

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​It adds the suffix -est to the original adjective.

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​e.g. bright - > brightest

Multiple Choice

What superlative adjective would you add to this sentence:

The butterfly was the __________ to fly away.

• quick

• quickest

• quicker

• quickerest

Multiple Choice

What superlative adjective would you add to this sentence:

The orange is the __________ of the fruits.

• juiciest

• juicy

• juicier

• juice

​Spelling Rules

​Most words can simply have the suffix –er and –est added to the end of them without having to make any changes to the root adjective.

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However, there are some words that you need to watch out for!

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Words that end in a ‘y’ These words need to have the ‘y’ changed into an ‘i’ before adding the suffix.

e.g. heavy → heavier tiny → tiniest

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Double consonants Words that end in one vowel and then one consonant need to have the last consonant doubled.

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e.g. flat → flatter

slim → slimmest

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Words that end in an ‘e’ Words that end in an ‘e’ need to have the ‘e’ removed before the suffix is ended.

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e.g. large → larger

fine → finest

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Fill in the Blanks

Today was the

(hot) day of the year.

Fill in the Blanks

The mouse was

(small)than the elephant.

Fill in the Blanks

Her hair is

(long) than mine.

Fill in the Blanks

They are the

(funny) people.