Comparative

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adjectives and Adverbs can be comparative in English and some other languages. When you are talking about two or more nouns, you can compare them (say the differences between them). The word which explains how they compare is called the comparative. You can also compare actions using adverbs.

Examples: (The comparative is in bold).

  • John is tall, but Mark is taller
  • An hour is longer than a minute.

Many words can be made into a comparative by adding er to the end of the word.

  • cool - cooler
  • big - bigger
  • wet - wetter
  • dark - darker

Words that end with the letter 'Y' can still be made into a comparative, but you change the 'Y' to an 'I' and then add 'ER'.

  • happy - happier
  • fluffy - fluffier
  • angry - angrier
  • costly - costlier

Some words cannot be made into a comparative by adding 'ER' Instead we use the word more in front. Most of these words have three or more syllables, such as beautiful, reliable.

If you are not sure about a word, it is always acceptable to say "more" (something), such as "more beautiful", "more expensive".

Warning: You cannot use the 'ER' ending and the word "more" together.

  • I am happier than you. - Correct.
  • I am more happy than you. - Correct.
  • I am more happier - WRONG.

[edit] See also

In other languages