Comparatives Examples

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Comparatives - Glossary of Terms

Comparatives

A comparative is the form of adjective or adverb used to compare two things.

Examples:

Mark is taller. ("taller" is the comparative of the adjective "tall")

Mark listens more attentively than he used to.
("more attentively" is the comparative of the adverb "attentively")

In general, the comparative form of an adjective or adverb can be formed by adding the suffix "-er" or by placing "more" before. This is covered in more detail in the lessons below.

Interactive example:

Ask the smaller one who is the better looking out of me and you. [show me the comparative]

Beware double comparatives (e.g., adding "er" and using "more"). This is wrong.

She was more prettier.

David was less smarter than John.

Associated pages:

Comparatives and superlatives of adjectives
Comparatives superlatives of adverbs
Glossary of grammatical terms