COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

COMPARATIVE INFERIORITY SIMILARITY SUPERIORITY

INFERIOTITY (menos que) LESS + ADJECTIVE/ADVERB (+ THAN) Mary is less attractive than Susan LESS + PLURAL/UNCOUNTABLE NOUN (+ THAN) I have less cars than you My coffee has less sugar (than yours)

SIMILARITY (tan/tantos/as/o/a......como) (NOT) AS + ADJECTIVE/ADVERB + AS She is not as strong as me (NOT) AS MANY + COUNTABLE PLURAL NOUN + AS Jane has got as many friends as Mary (NOT) AS MUCH + UNCOUNTABLE NOUN + AS Paris has as much traffic as Madrid

SUPERIORITY (más......que) SHORT ADJECTIVE/ADVERB-ER (+ THAN) My house is smaller than Peter's (house) MORE + LONG ADJECTIVE/ADVERB (+ THAN) This car is more expensive than that one MORE + PLURAL/UNCOUNTABLE NOUN (+ THAN) You have more cars than me

Short vs. Long Adjectives/Adverbs SHORT ADJECTIVES One or two syllables (pronunciation): small, nice, big, warm, common Two syllables ending in -y: happy, busy, easy, funny Two syllables ending in -er, -le, -ow can take the short or the long form: narrow, clever, simple LONG ADJECTIVES More than two syllables (pronunciation): elegant, expensive Two syllables ending in a suffix: careful, boring, hopeless, interesting Two syllables ending in -er, -le, -ow can take the short or the long form: narrow, clever, simple

Spelling rules When adding the suffix -er e → e er nice → nicer y → y ier happy → happier CVC → CVCCer hot → hotter

SUPERLATIVE

SUPERLATIVE (El más/la más/lo más...) THE + SHORT ADJECTIVE/ADVERB-EST My house is the smallest house in the village THE MOST + LONG ADJECTIVE/ADVERB This car is the most expensive car of the year

Short vs. Long Adjectives/Adverbs SHORT ADJECTIVES One or two syllables (pronunciation): small, nice, big, warm, common Two syllables ending in -y: happy, busy, easy, funny Two syllables ending in -er, -le, -ow can take the short or the long form: narrow, clever, simple LONG ADJECTIVES More than two syllables (pronunciation): elegant, expensive Two syllables ending in a suffix: careful, boring, hopeless, interesting Two syllables ending in -er, -le, -ow can take the short or the long form: narrow, clever, simple

Spelling rules When adding the suffix -est e → e est nice → nicest y → y iest happy → happiest CVC → CVCCest hot → hottest

Irregular adjectives and adverbs ADJECTIVE/ADVERBCOMPARATIVESUPERLATIVE GOOD/WELLBETTERTHE BEST BAD/BADLYWORSETHE WORST FARFURTHER/FARTHER THE FURTHEST/ FARTHEST LITTLELESSTHE LEAST MUCH/MANYMORETHE MOST ILLWORSETHE WORST OLD OLDER ELDER (when talking about members of a family, not used with than) THE OLDEST/ELDEST

SPECIAL USES Superlative + Present Perfect + ever - This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen - Este es el lugar más bonito que jamás he visto Present continuous + comparative + and + comparative - He is getting taller and taller Él es cada vez más (y más) alto