📊 Degrees of Comparison
Master positive, comparative, and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs
🌟 Understanding Degrees of Comparison
📚 What Are Degrees of Comparison?
Degrees of comparison are different forms of adjectives and adverbs used to compare people, things, or actions. There are three degrees:
- Positive: The basic form (tall, beautiful, quickly)
- Comparative: Compares two things (taller, more beautiful, more quickly)
- Superlative: Compares three or more things (tallest, most beautiful, most quickly)
📊 Comparison Structure
Explore how adjectives and adverbs change across the three degrees!
Degrees of Comparison
Positive Degree
Basic Form
No comparison
tall
She is tall
beautiful
It's beautiful
quickly
He runs quickly
Comparative Degree
Compare Two
-er / more + adjective
taller
She is taller than him
more beautiful
It's more beautiful
more quickly
He runs more quickly
Superlative Degree
Compare All
-est / most + adjective
tallest
She is the tallest
most beautiful
It's the most beautiful
most quickly
He runs most quickly
📋 Quick Reference Table
| Adjective Type | Positive | Comparative | Superlative | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short (1 syllable) | tall, big, fast | taller, bigger, faster | tallest, biggest, fastest | |
| Short ending in -y | happy, easy, busy | happier, easier, busier | happiest, easiest, busiest | |
| Long (3+ syllables) | beautiful, expensive | more beautiful, more expensive | most beautiful, most expensive | |
| Irregular | good, bad, far | better, worse, farther | best, worst, farthest |
💡 Click on any row to see detailed examples and sentence patterns!
🎯 Why Learn Comparisons?
Comparisons help you express differences, similarities, and rankings. They're essential for describing, evaluating, and making choices in everyday communication.
📝 Formation Rules
Learn the patterns: short adjectives add -er/-est, long adjectives use more/most, and watch out for irregular forms like good-better-best.
🏆 Usage Tips
Remember: comparative needs "than" (taller than), superlative needs "the" (the tallest), and never mix forms (more better is wrong!).
✅ Positive Degree
📚 Understanding Positive Degree
The positive degree is the basic form of an adjective or adverb. It describes a quality without making any comparison. It's the form you find in the dictionary.
- Adjectives: tall, beautiful, smart, expensive
- Adverbs: quickly, carefully, loudly, well
- Usage: Simply describes without comparing
Positive Adjectives
Basic forms that describe nouns.
Describes qualities without comparison
✅ The house is big
✅ She is intelligent
Positive Adverbs
Basic forms that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
Describes actions or qualities without comparison
✅ He runs fast
✅ She speaks clearly
Usage Patterns
How to use positive degree correctly.
Simple statements and descriptions
✅ The weather is nice
✅ They work hard
Equal Comparisons
Using positive degree with "as...as" for equal comparisons.
Shows equality between two things
✅ She is as tall as her sister
✅ He runs as fast as me
⚖️ Comparative Degree
📚 Understanding Comparative Degree
The comparative degree compares two people, things, or actions. It shows that one has more or less of a quality than another.
- Formation: Add -er OR use "more" + adjective
- Usage: Always followed by "than" when comparing
- Examples: taller than, more beautiful than, better than
Short Adjectives (-er)
1-2 syllable adjectives add -er.
tall → taller, big → bigger
✅ She is taller than him
✅ This car is faster than that one
Long Adjectives (more)
3+ syllable adjectives use "more".
beautiful → more beautiful
✅ This dress is more expensive than that one
✅ She is more intelligent than average
Irregular Forms
Special forms that don't follow regular patterns.
good → better, bad → worse
✅ This book is better than the movie
✅ Today is worse than yesterday
Formation Rules
Spelling changes and special cases.
happy → happier, thin → thinner
✅ She looks happier than before
✅ This line is thinner than that one
🏆 Superlative Degree
📚 Understanding Superlative Degree
The superlative degree compares three or more people, things, or actions. It shows which one has the most or least of a quality.
- Formation: Add -est OR use "most" + adjective
- Usage: Usually preceded by "the"
- Examples: the tallest, the most beautiful, the best
Short Adjectives (-est)
1-2 syllable adjectives add -est.
tall → the tallest
✅ She is the tallest in the class
✅ This is the fastest car
Long Adjectives (most)
3+ syllable adjectives use "most".
beautiful → the most beautiful
✅ This is the most expensive dress
✅ She is the most intelligent student
Irregular Forms
Special superlative forms.
good → the best, bad → the worst
✅ This is the best movie ever
✅ That was the worst day
Usage Patterns
How to use superlatives correctly.
With "the", "in", "of" phrases
✅ The oldest building in the city
✅ The smartest of all students
💪 Practice Exercises
📚 Mixed Practice
Test your understanding with these comprehensive exercises covering all degrees of comparison:
📏 Short Adjectives
1. Complete the forms: "big → _____ → _____"
Hint: Short adjectives double the final consonant before adding -er/-est
"big → bigger → biggest" (double the 'g')
2. Choose correctly: "This book is (good/better/best) than that one."
Hint: Comparing two things requires comparative degree
"This book is better than that one." (comparative for two items)
📖 Long Adjectives
3. Form correctly: "This dress is _____ (expensive) than that one."
Hint: Long adjectives (3+ syllables) use "more" for comparative
"This dress is more expensive than that one." (more + adjective)
4. Complete: "She is _____ (intelligent) student in the class."
Hint: Superlative for long adjectives uses "most" and needs "the"
"She is the most intelligent student in the class." (the most + adjective)
🔄 Irregular Forms
5. Complete the series: "far → _____ → _____"
Hint: "Far" has two possible comparative/superlative forms
"far → farther/further → farthest/furthest" (both forms are correct)
⚖️ Equal Comparisons
6. Complete: "John is _____ tall _____ his brother."
Hint: Equal comparison uses "as...as" with positive degree
"John is as tall as his brother." (as + positive + as)
📋 Interactive Worksheet
Complete the sentences by choosing the correct degree of comparison from the dropdown menus. Pay attention to whether you're comparing two things (comparative) or three or more things (superlative).
Score: 0/25
1.
This book is
than that one. It's actually
book I've ever read.
2.
Sarah is
than her sister, but their mother is
in the family.
3.
Today's weather is
than yesterday's. In fact, it's
weather we've had all week.
4.
This car is
than that one, but the red car is
of all.
5.
My brother runs
than me, but our friend Tom runs
of all of us.
6.
This exercise is
the previous one. They are both quite
for beginners.
7.
She feels
now than she did last month. This is
she's been in years.
8.
The blue dress is
than the green one, but the red dress is
of all three.
9.
This problem is
than I thought. It might be
situation we've faced.
10.
John is
his brother. They are both very
students.
🏆 Degrees of Comparison Quiz
Score: 0/10
Click "Start Quiz" to begin!
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