38 English Grammar Demystifi ed
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
Descriptive words follow a pattern when they are used in comparisons. For
example:
One house is near.A second house is nearer.A third house is nearest.The adjective near follows a linking verb, is, and describes the subject, house. In the
second sentence, two houses are compared and the adjective’s spelling changes: -er
is added. In the third sentence, three houses are compared. The spelling changes
again: -est is added to indicate more than two.
So the changes for comparisons are simple. Just add -er for a comparison of two
or -est for a comparison of more than two. For example:
Describing Word Comparison of Two Comparison of More than Two
soon sooner soonest
funny funnier funniest
loud louder loudest
short shorter shortest
The preceding transformations were quite simple. The complication occurs when
the adjective has more than two syllables:
wonderful wonderfuler wonderfulestSound strange? Most people would say these do. That is why we use the words more
and most instead of the awkward suffi xes, -fuler and -fulest:
wonderful more wonderful most wonderfulNow compare the adjectives in the following chart.
Describing Word Comparison of Two Comparison of More than Two
diffi cult more diffi cult most diffi cult
valuable more valuable most valuable
legible more legible most legible
sympathetic more sympathetic most sympathetic