COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
Use
We can change old to older or to oldest.
Old is an adjective. Older is the comparative. Oldest is the superlative.
Form
Here we make a difference between big and small words:
Small adjectives (1 syllable):
The comparative is made using -er on the end of the adjective – old >older
The superlative is made using -est on the end of the adjective – old >older
Big adjectives (2 or more syllables)
The comparative is made using more + adjective – more expensive
The superlative is made using most + adjective – most expensive
Some words change in an irregular manner:
good – > better – > best
bad – > worse – > worst
older than, bigger than…
The comparative is used with the word than (in German you use the word “als”):
- London is bigger than Paris.
- The weather is worse today than yesterday
QUANTIFIERS (more than, less than, fewer etc)
COUNTABLE
more than – mehr als – e.g. John has more work than Peter.
fewer than – weniger als – e.g. John gets fewer emails than me.
the most – am meisten – e.g. John gets more emails than Peter but Dave has the most.
the fewest – am wenigsten – e.g. John gets fewer emails than Dave but Peter gets the fewest.
UNCOUNTABLE
more than – mehr als – e.g. John has more time than Peter.
less than – weniger als – e.g. BD Computers made less profit than Dell last year.
the most – am meisten – e.g. Dell made the most profit last year.
the least – am wenigsten – e.g. BD Computers made the least profit last year.
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