Grammar Mishaps: Positive, Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

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By Robin


Taylor is goofy, Georgia is goofier, but Aiden is the goofiest!

Three Degrees of Adjectives

I received another hub request on the degrees of adjectives: positive, comparative and superlative. I'll attempt to give the basic breakdown of each and how they are interrelated.

Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns. They can answer, which, what kind, or how many. We can use three forms to compare adjectives: positive, comparative and superlative. We use these degrees of adjectives to show points of reference.



Positive Adjectives

Positive adjectives stand alone. They are the sole modifier of a noun or pronoun. They do not compare the noun/pronoun with any other. Even though they are called "positive" adjectives they can describe something negative.

For example:

  • Her blue hat was brilliant. (Blue is the positive adjective modifying the noun, hat.)
  • She was a smart woman. (Smart is the positive adjective modifying the noun, woman.)

Comparative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives are used when describing the differences between ONLY two items.

For example, take the two words: orangutan and rhinoceros

  • Rhinoceros is a longer word than orangutan; or
  • Orangutan is a shorter word than rhinoceros.

Comparative adjectives, used to describe only two items, can be used to describe groups of items as long as there are only two groups.

For example:

  • Their swim team was faster than our swim team.


Comparative Adjective Suffixes

With one syllable adjectives and sometimes two syllable adjectives, especially those ending in "y", we add the suffix "er". When the adjective is multi-syllabic we sometimes use the the terms "more" or "less" to describe the comparison. Never use both "er" and "more" or "less". E.g., The meal was more better than last night. This is INCORRECT.

For example:

  • big, bigger
  • happy, happier
  • obnoxious, more obnoxious
  • careful, less careful

Note:

  • When the adjective ends in "e" just add an "r". (E.g., late, later)
  • When the adjective has a consonant, vowel, consonant ending, double the ending letter and add "er". (E.g., red, redder)
  • When the adjective ends in a "y", change the "y" to "i" and add "er". (E.g., early, earlier)

Remember: There are always irregular forms that don't follow these rules. E.g., good, better; bad, worse; little, less.

Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives are used when describing three items or more. Superlative adjectives are never used with two items. They are used to express the highest degree of the item you are expressing in comparison to the other items. They are the most extreme in the group of items.

For example, take the three words: orangutan, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus

  • Hippopotamus is the longest word; or
  • Orangutan is the shortest word.

Superlative Adjective Suffixes

With one syllable adjectives and sometimes two syllable adjectives, especially those ending in "y", we add the suffix "est". When the adjective is multi-syllabic we sometimes use the the terms "most" or "least" to describe the comparison. Never use both "est" and "most" or "least".

For example:

  • big, bigger, biggest
  • happy, happier, happiest
  • obnoxious, more obnoxious, most obnoxious
  • careful, less careful, least careful

Note:

  • When the adjective ends in "e" just add an "st". (E.g., late, later, latest)
  • When the adjective has a consonant, vowel, consonant ending, double the ending letter and add "est". (E.g., red, redder, reddest)
  • When the adjective ends in a "y", change the "y" to "i" and add "est". (E.g., early, earlier, earliest)

Again, remember: There are always irregular forms that don't follow these rules. E.g., good, better, best; bad, worse, worst; little, less, least.

Thoughts, Comments, Questions?

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Davinne profile image

Davinne  says:
2 years ago

Kool your well educated as we could see. Thanx for sharing yourself with us

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
2 years ago

Thanks, Davinne. In the beginning I didn't intend to create so many grammar hubs; it has just happened. I keep getting more requests; it's hard to keep up. Thanks for reading!;)

glassvisage profile image

glassvisage  says:
2 years ago

I've forgotten all about the different kinds of adjectives and I had to click just to remember what the heck they were :P

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
2 years ago

Funny! I think native speakers take a lot of English usage for granted. We just say what sounds right; most of the time we're correct. Thanks! ;)

jstankevicz profile image

jstankevicz  says:
2 years ago

Glad you included the picture to help me smile, ‘cause the topic made my head hurt. You have three adorable models that demonstrate adjectives brilliantly!

jmuriset profile image

jmuriset  says:
2 years ago

I love that photo!! Oh, and the hub is great, too. :) We all could have skipped grades K-6, if only we had had your grammar hubs! Wait, did I say that right? I mean, correctly? Correct? Oh forget it.

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
2 years ago

Thanks, Jack. Unfortunately, I can only claim the one on the right. ;)

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
2 years ago

Ha, Jaym. xo

misfit profile image

misfit  says:
2 years ago

I haven't real training in English
So I wish that my teacher'd been you.
But please won't you answer this question -
Is it 'hat' which is brilliant, or 'blue'?

I do appreciate the free tuition. Tom.

oneal1122 profile image

oneal1122  says:
2 years ago

Thanks Robin. Your hubs serve as a great refresher course for grammar writing.

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
2 years ago

Thanks, Tom. Good question. In this sentence brilliant was meant as wonderful, modifying the noun hat. Blue is also an adjective modifying the noun, hat. I appreciate the vote of confidence. ;)

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
2 years ago

I greatly appreciate the comment, Oneal 1122! ;)

laim  says:
2 years ago

can you say much better

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
2 years ago

Good question. I believe it is okay to say "much better". When you describe something as "much better" you are saying that there is a large value gap between what your are describing. Thanks for reading!

gredmondson profile image

gredmondson  says:
18 months ago

Hi Robin,
Thanks so much for helping the world with grammar. Another Hub idea would be to do something on adjectives that have, by their definition, a superlative meaning. For example, "favorite" and "unique" have a superlative meaning. My female junior high students wanted to have more than one "best friend." When I told them that they coulde have only one "best" friend, they felt cheated. It didn't help much if I told them they could have all the good friends -- or wonderful friends -- that they wanted. But, then that was junior high.

karen FrosK  says:
15 months ago

When one says: She was one of the better speakers at the conference, does this mean that there are only two speakers at the conference? I believe that this use is becoming common though incorrect to mean "one of the best." Am I right?

Carlos  says:
14 months ago

How come then I hear bluer instead of more blue or more smart instead of smarter?

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
13 months ago

Hi Karen,
Yes, It is correct to say, "She is one of the better..." to mean one of a possible few that are better in a group.  If you were to say, "She was the better speaker," then you would be speaking of only one person being better.  Great point!

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
13 months ago

Hi Carlos,
It is correct to say, "bluer" and "smarter".  Both words, "blue" and "smart", are one syllable and just require the "er" ending.  Thanks for the comment!

Hannah  says:
13 months ago

What is the positive and comparative of worst?

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
13 months ago

Hi Hannah,

Mary is bad at basketball. (Bad is the positive adjective)

Lynn is worse at basketball than Mary. (Worse is the comparitive form of the adjective bad)

Kim is the worst at basketball. (Worst is the superlative form of the adjective bad)

bad, worse, worst

Thanks for the question!

Leon  says:
7 months ago

Thanks for the help. My sister was just doing her homework, which involved comparative and superlative adjectives, and we were searching all over the Web 'till we got to your page. Thanks!

angel  says:
6 months ago

hey thanks for this

Vivian Marti  says:
6 months ago

Need to know how to use worse v. worst. What is the difference? Pls advise. Thank you.

froilan  says:
5 months ago

thank you for your support

mary  says:
3 months ago

tahank you

asia  says:
3 months ago

Cool

Umpa-lumpa  says:
4 days ago

good

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