Positive Form

Use the positive form of the adjective if the comparison contains one of the following
expressions:
as as
Example: Jane is as tall as John.

not as as / not so as
Example: John is not as tall as Arnie.
Comparative Form and Superlative Form (-er/-est)
one-syllable adjectives (clean, new, cheap)
two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -er (easy, happy, pretty, dirty, clever)

positive comparative
superlative form
form form

clean cleaner (the) cleanest

Exceptions in spelling when adding -er / -est

silent e is dropped
Example: late-later-latest

final y after a consonant becomes i

Example: easy-easier-easiest

final consonant after short, stressed vowel is doubled

Example: hot-hotter-hottest
Comparative Form and Superlative Form (more/most)
adjectives of three or more syllables (and two-syllable adjectives not ending in -y/-er)

positive comparative
superlative form
form form

difficult more difficult most difficult

Comparative Form and Superlative Form (irregular comparisons)

positive form comparative superlative form

 form

good better best

bad / ill worse worst

little (amount) less least

little (size) smaller smallest

much / many more most

far (place + time) further furthest

far (place) farther farthest

late (time) later latest

late (order) latter last

near (place) nearer nearest

near (order) - next

old (people and things) older oldest

old (people) elder eldest

Exercise on Comparison of Adjectives

ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB

THE DIFFERENCE

An adjective tells us more about a noun. Example: an

expensive car, a clever girl

An adverb tells us more about a verb. Example: He

talked nervously.
 HOW TO FORM THE ADVERB

Adjective + ly

sad sadly quiet quietly

nervous nervously soft softly

Adjectives ending in -y ily

happy happily angry angrily

Adjectives ending in -le ly

terrible terribly capable capably

Adjectives ending in -ly

in a friendly way /
friendly daily daily
manner
lively in a lively way / manner early early
lonely in a lonely way / manner monthly monthly
lovely in a lovely way / manner weekly weekly
silly in a silly way / manner yearly yearly

Irregular forms

good well low low

fast fast straight straight
hard hard extra extra
long long doubtless doubtless

Double forms

hard hard hardly = kaum

near near nearly = beinahe
late late lately = in letzter
 Zeit

HOW TO USE THE ADVERB

Verb + adverb

The adverb describes a verb.

Example:He drovecarefully.
verb adverb
Shesold her housequickly
verb adverb

Adjective + adverb

The adverb describes an adjective.

Example:Hernecklacewashorriblyexpensive.
adverb adjective
She wasterribly sorry.
adverb adjective

Adverb + adverb

The adverb describes an adverb.

Example:Theyplayedterribly badly.
adverb adverb
He did his
absolutelycorrectly.
homework
adverb adverb

No adverb with the following verbs

Forms of to am, is, are, was, were,

be: have been, had been,
will be
seem, get, turn, grow, sound, feel,
taste, become, smell,
look (aussehen)
It can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between adjectives and adverbs in a sentence.
You must ask yourself what word the modifier is modifying. If the modified word is a noun, the
modifier is an adjective. If the modified word is a verb, adjective, or adverb, the modifier is an
adverb.

To complete a sentence correctly, you need to determine whether the sentence needs an adjective
or an adverb.

Cheetahs are speedy animals. (adjective modifying animal)

Cheetahs run speedily. (adverb modifying the verb run)

One area of confusion can be when an adjective is modifying a noun that is acting as an
adjective.

That is my brother. (My is an adjective modifying the noun brother.)

My brother's bike is broken. (My is still an adjective modifying the noun brother, but now
brother is a possessive noun acting as an adjective modifying bike.)

Many people unintentionally use adjectives to describe verbs. Make sure in your writing to use
adjectives to modify nouns and pronouns and adverbs to modify verbs, adjectives, and other
adverbs.

The boys walked slow toward their classroom. (incorrect)

The boys walked slowly toward their classroom. (correct)

Adjectives - word order: When there are two or more adjectives before a
noun there are some complicated "rules" for the order in which they should
appear. These are the most important:

1. opinion adjectives come before fact adjectives

2. fact adjectives appear as follows: size - age - colour - origin - material

Here are some examples:

a silly old man (an old silly man )

a beautiful blue butterfly (a blue beautiful butterfly )
an interesting historical film (a historical interesting film)
a huge metal box (a metal huge box )
a new red dress (a red new dress )
little Russian dolls (Russian little dolls )

You will need to consult a good reference grammar for full details on the
order of adjectives, and how they should be punctuated.

Do a quiz on this grammar topic.

Adjectives: -ed or -ing? English contains numerous -ed or -ingadjective
pairs derived from verbs. To avoid mixing these up, remember that the -
ed adjectives are used to describe how you feel, and the -ingadjectives are
used for what it is that makes you feel that way. Here are some examples:

I feel tired. - Working in the garden all day is very tiring.

I am bored. - This grammar lesson is boring.
She was disappointed. - Her math test score was disappointing.
I'm interested in Ancient Egypt. - I think Ancient Egypt
is interesting.
He was shocked. - He found your behaviour shocking.
I'm very confused by this film. - This film is very confusing.

Do a quiz on this grammar topic.

Adjective or adverb? In English most (but not all) adverbs have a different
form (spelling) than their corresponding adjective. It is important, therefore,
that you know whether you need an adjective or an adverb in the sentences
you want to say or write. Generally, adjectives are used to describe nouns
and adverbs are used with verbs to say howthings are done. In the following
examples, the adjectives are red and the adverbs are blue:

He's a beautiful singer. - He sings beautifully.

She's a very quick runner. - She can run very quickly.
He's a careless writer. - He writes carelessly.
She's a good worker. - She works well.

Adverbs are also used to give extra information about adjectives (or other
adverbs), as in the following examples:

I am extremely happy in my new job.

She's in hospital with a seriously injured neck.
It's incredibly easy to make a mistake when knitting.
The girl climbed dangerously high up the tree.
Because of the thick fog I drove extremely carefully.

After certain verbs (e.g. be, become, seem, look, taste, smell, etc.) the
adjective, not the adverb, is used:

She doesn't seem happy today.

Don't be stupid!
This meat tastes bad.
Those flowers smell strange.