Get Ready for B1: Comparatives & Superlatives

Get Ready for B1: Comparatives And Superlatives

Using comparatives and superlatives is a requirement at B1 level, so we’re going to go over the rules here. Let’s start with the basics.

General rules

Use than when you make comparisons:

London is bigger than Manchester.

Use the before all superlatives:

London is the biggest city in the UK.

Those rules always apply.  Now we need to go into more detail, so we’re going to look at syllables. What’s a syllable? Here’s the Oxford English Dictionary definition:

‘A unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word; for example, there are two syllables in water and three in inferno.’

So it’s a sound unit in a word. For example, the word ‘syllable’ has three syllables: syl-la-ble. And how we form comparatives and superlatives depends on how many syllables there are in an adjective. So here we go!

One-syllable adjectives

The classes are smaller here than at my old school

They start later.

The biggest difference is the lessons.

Add er to form a comparative and est to form the superlative.

Just add r and st if the adjective already ends in ‘e’.

Sometimes you have to double the last consonant before adding the endings (big – bigger – biggest).

Two-syllable adjectives ending in ‘y’ 

It’s easier to go by train than bus.

Driving is probably the easiest way to get there.

First change ‘y’ to i. Then add er to form a comparative and add est to form the superlative.

Two-syllable adjectives not ending in ‘y’, and adjectives with three or more syllables

This city is more modern than my hometown.

I want to get a more interesting job.

The most difficult thing about my job is the timetable.

Put more before the adjective to form a comparative and the most before the adjective to form the superlative. You must always do this for all three-syllable words. There are a few two-syllable words that can take either more/most or er/est. Here are some examples:

clever – cleverer or more clever – the cleverest or the most clever

stupid – stupider or more stupid – the stupidest or the most stupid

polite – politer or more polite – the politest or the most polite

However, these words are in the minority. So we recommend you to follow the more/most rule for all two-syllable words. That way you’ll never be wrong.

You can also use the opposite forms: less and the least.

My hometown is less modern than this city.

The least interesting part of my job is doing the paperwork.

Irregular adjectives

I hope you get a better salary in your new job.

The worst thing about London is the traffic.

My new college is further from home.

There are no rules for irregular adjectives, so you just have to learn them:

good – better – the best

bad – worse – the worst

far – further – the furthest

Another type of comparative

My son is as old as your daughter (they’re the same age).

But he’s not as tall as your daughter (he’s shorter than she is or she’s taller than he is).

We can also use (not) as + adjective + as to compare people and things. Remember, you use this form with the base adjective, not with a comparative adjective (for example, ‘tall’, not ‘taller’).