We can turn many adjectives into comparatives by adding the suffix -er. “Smart” becomes “smarter,” “tall” and “short” become “taller” and “shorter,” and “old” and “young” become “older” and “younger.” Other adjectives have slight variations. “Big” and “fat” double the
last consonant and become “bigger” and “fatter.” “Funny” and “lovely” change the Y into an I and become “funnier” and “lovelier.”
Other adjectives do not take the -er suffix. We would never say “interestinger” or “dangerouser” but instead would say “more interesting” and “more dangerous.”
Examples:
- They seem more worried than usual.
- I am less afraid of spiders than of other bugs.
There are exceptions, but shorter adjectives (ex. smart, happy, nice) are more likely to take -er suffix than longer adjectives (ex. beautiful, complicated, intelligent), which are more likely to go with “more” or “less.”
What about describing two things that are very similar? In this case, we do not use a comparative structure but we use the structure of “as … as” instead.
Examples:
- My college friends are just as nice as my friends from home.
- It’s as easy as ABC!
- They own as many cars as the royal family!
- I do not like chocolate ice cream as much as I like vanilla ice cream.
Write in the comments section the correct answers:
1. Greg is more smart / smarter than Sarah.
2. If I got a new job, I would be happier / more happy than I am now.
3. The movie is not as good as / badder than the book.
4. This butterfly is as beautiful as / beautifuller than the last one we saw!
5. The library has as many books as / as much books as the bookstore.
6. You are more early / later than usual.
7. My cousin is much more mature / maturer than I am.
8. The new Ford model is even more fast / faster than the last one.
9. We want to become gooder / better at drawing than we are now.
10. I am less young / older than my sister.
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