Adjectives and Adverbs: Forms for Comparison
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Adjectives and Adverbs: Forms for Comparison
A common error in using adjectives and adverbs arises from using the wrong form for comparison.
Incorrect: She is the poorest of the two women.
Correct:
She is poor. (positive form)
She is the poorer of the two women. (comparative form/two items)
She is the poorest of them all. (superlative form/more than two)
Many one- and two-syllable adjectives and one-syllable adverbs may be compared by adding ‑er or ‑est.
Examples:
sweet, sweeter, sweetest
high, higher, highest
silly, sillier, silliest
big, bigger, biggest
Usually, with words of three or more syllables, don’t add ‑er or ‑est. Use more or most in front of the words. Never use both the ‑er or ‑est suffix and more or most.
Example: efficient, more efficient, most efficient
Incorrect:
He is efficienter at using the PowerPoint program than his boss is.
He is more efficienter at using the PowerPoint program than his boss is.
Correct: He is more efficient at using the PowerPoint program than his boss is.
Some words have irregular comparative and superlative forms.
Examples:
bad, worse, worst
good, better, best
Incorrect: She is the best candidate of the two for the job.
Correct: She is the better candidate of the two for the job.
When comparing most ‑ly adverbs, keep the ‑ly and add more or most.
Incorrect: She spoke quicker than he did.
Correct:
She spoke quickly.
She spoke more quickly than he did.
Incorrect: Talk quieter.
Correct:
Talk quietly.
Talk more quietly.
Pop Quiz
Fix the incorrect sentences.
1. She is even curiouser than her little brother.
2. I can run more faster than you can.
3. I can run more quickly than you can.
4. My brother is the youngest of the two of us.
5. She is the best of the two sisters at braiding hair.
Pop Quiz Answers
1. She is even more curious than her little brother.
2. I can run faster than you can.
3. I can run more quickly than you can. CORRECT
4. My brother is the younger of the two of us.
5. She is the better of the two sisters at braiding hair.
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
hello Jane,
First of all let me thank you very much for your amazing grammar blog. I discovered it recently and it halps me a lot. I am currently in the process of improving my english grammar ( I am not a native speaker) and I can say your blog is a very useful tool for me. Searching through your archive i got the answer for most of my grammar dilemas.
God bless you for this blog
Thank you, Adi. I’m so glad you find this useful.
I don’t understand how you can say that “quick” is an adverb. If I say, “I went for a quick jog,” “quick” is an adjective describing “jog.”
It’s in the American Heritage Dictionary:
ADVERB: Inflected forms: quicker, quickest
Quickly; promptly.
And Merriam-Webster:
Function: adverb
: in a quick manner
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quick
So I don’t see what’s wrong with “She spoke quicker than he did.”
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, quick, quicker, and quickest are all adjectives. Note: “In speech, ‘quick’ is commonly used as an adverb in phrases such as ‘Come quick.’ In formal writing, however, ‘quickly’ is required.”
The Random House Dictionary states pretty much the same thing.
1. on J’s 4/5 comments:
“Merriam-Webster:
Function: adverb
: in a quick manner”
This is a mistatement of fuction in the example! “Quick” modifies the noun “manner”; that makes it an adjective. (Why don’t we use “adnoun” instead?)
2. citing common usage often means acceptance of a sub-group language, doesn’t it? For least pejoration, how about “casual spoken” vs. “formal” or is that enough separation?
May I say Jane that your website is amazing; just what I have been looking for. I have on question though: when do we use ‘quicker’ instead of ‘more quickly’ and vice versa? This has confused me a little and although you page was a big help, I still could not find an answer to this.
I’m looking forward to a reply.
Thank you very much, Jane.
Regards.
Thanks, Josh. Use “quicker” as an adjective. Example: She has a quicker wit than all her friends. BUT She thinks more quickly than all her friends.
I understand now. Thank you very much once again. Your prompt reply is much appreciated.
Warm regards.
Hi to you Jane,
thank you for your blog…
Which is correct? please
The quicker you walk the sooner you’ll arrive
OR
The more quickly you walk , the sooner you’ll arrive
If the second sentence is correct ,is it because ‘quickly’ is referring to the verb.
If so, is the following correct? ( here quicker is an adjective)
The quicker you are in this exercise, the more bonus you’ll receive
“more quickly”
“Quickly” answers how the person walks, so an adverb is necessary.
The next example you give is not grammatically correct, so I can’t give you an answer.
I came across your blog after I heard many uses of “fun” as an adjective. You wrote:
“Some one-syllable words, such as fun, are exceptions. You must use more or most with fun.
Example: Learning English grammar is more fun than I thought it would be.”
The reason we cannot say “funner” or “funnest” is because “fun” is most definitely a noun, not an adjective. The adjective that derives from fun is “funny”. However, “funny” has come to connote other things, so the word “enjoyable” encapsulates better the intentions of the speaker when he/she uses “fun” erroneously as an adjective.
So, the corrected form of your example (“You are the funnest person I know.”) is simply: “You are the funniest person I know.”.
However, the Oxford Dictionary concedes:
“The use of fun as an adjective meaning ‘enjoyable,’ as in we had a fun evening, is now established in informal use, although not accepted in standard English. The adjective now has comparative and superlative forms funner and funnest, formed as if fun were a standard adjective.”
Nonetheless, I do not think that your grammar website should promote non-accepted forms of grammar.
Thank you for pointing out the fact that one of the examples is in the wrong section. In the example “Learning English grammar is more fun than I thought it would be,” the word “fun” is used as a noun, not an adjective. It will need to be removed from the “Adjectives and Adverbs” section. I do not agree with you that the superlative adjective form of “fun” would be “funniest.” “Fun” and “funny” are completely different words. (Even on a personal level I know people who are “fun” but are not necessarily funny!) Even the nonstandard use of “fun” as an adjective would be: fun, more fun, most fun. “Funny” would be funny, funnier, funniest.
A client doesn’t like the strapline ‘a better understanding’; she says a comparative is meaningless without reference to what it is better THAN. I do understand the (rather narrow) grammatical point, but surely ordinary spoken English – especially ‘commercial’ English – is rich with such law-bending?
And what seems most important is clarity. If a company says ‘For a better holiday’ or ‘For a more comfortable journey’, the omission of ‘than your previous holiday / usual journey’ isn’t important, is it?
Yes, spoken English certainly does differ in formality from written English. Your client makes an interesting point. A sentence without the rest of the comparative explanation can still be grammatically correct. In the phrases you mentioned, a better understanding, a better holiday, and a more comfortable journey, the rest of the comparative is implied. In less than formal writing, the rest of the comparative is only needed where there could be confusion over what the first part of the sentence is being compared to.
Please can you sort out this mini grammar issue for me?
‘maria ______ in her group. i have 2 options, “works the quickest’ or works the most quickly’ which one is correct please and why do you think so. I think it is ‘works the quickest.’ Prove me wrong.
thanks for this excellent site.
We recommend “works the most quickly” because “quickly” modifies “works.”
What about dangerous?
The comparative form would be more dangerous and the superlative form would be most dangerous.
A question on the side of grammar, Jane made a sad passing in 2011. Who became Jane to answer queries?
Regards.
Very, very sad indeed. As we note on the GrammarBook.com website under the “About Jane” tab, Jane’s husband, who worked with her on all aspects of the book and website from 2004 until her death, assumed ownership of the website. While no one can truly replace Jane, he assembled a skilled team to answer people’s inquiries with as much of the same conciseness, thorough research, and lightness of heart as possible.
I’m a little confused about the following:
“She is the second & youngest of two children and the only daughter. ” Is this the correct usage?
Thanks.
The word second is unnecessary in your sentence. Therefore, write “She is the youngest of two children and the only daughter.”
I have a question on adjectives-adverbs usage, if you don’t mind.
There go two sentences:
1. I have more books than you.
2. We haven’t had much rain this evening.
Our grammar book says that ‘more’ and ‘much’ here are adverbs, but in the sentence they describe nouns, so they should be adjectives, I think. What is correct here? And why?
Thanks for your help.
In your example sentences, the words much and more function as adjectives, but are often termed determiners. Determiners precede and contextualize nouns.
Until recently, traditional grammar and many dictionaries did not take determiners into account. Many determiners were classed as adjectives. Today many grammarians prefer to distinguish determiners as a separate class from adjectives.
Maybe I have forgotten more than I know, but these newscasters are
driving me crazy! I always thought the proper usage was “more quiet.”
When did it become acceptable to say “quieter?”
The Chicago Manual of Style says, “Some adjectives with two syllables take the ‑er suffix {lazy–lazier} {narrow–narrower}, but most two-syllable adjectives take more {more hostile} {more careless}.” This wording seems open to interpretation and there are writers who believe that some two-syllable adjectives can use either “-er” or “more.”
Please is this correct *Among the two, James is faster or it should rather be *James is fastest*?
When comparing two people or things, use between and the comparative form faster.
Which sentence is correct
These apartments aren’t as modern as our apartment, but they’re much larger.
Or
These apartments aren’t as modern as our apartment, but they’re much more larger.
As the post states, “Never use both the -er or -est suffix and more or most.” Therefore, your first sentence is correct.
why do we say he is the younger of the two of us
The comparative form is used when writing about two people. The comparative form of young is younger. The word person is implied; therefore, the article the is necessary.
He is young.
He is the younger of the two of us.
He is the youngest of us all.
I would like to know when the sentence includes “of the two,” should the adverb comparative use “the” in front of it?
Or both are OK?
For example, which is correct of the following two sentences?
1. John runs faster of the two.
2. John runs the faster of the two.
Thanks for your reply.
We recommend rewriting as follows:
“John is the faster of the two runners.”
Regarding: Many one- and two-syllable adjectives and one-syllable adverbs may be compared by adding ‑er or ‑est.
In the USA, the use of FAR is more complex (and disputed).
When referring to physical distance: far, farther, farthest.
When referring to non-figurative distances: far, further, furthest.
Our post Farther vs. Further elaborates on this topic.
Although I agree with what’s posted here, I really believe some of these pedantic, senseless and from a time gone by rules have to go.
Many will say and write “quicker” rather than “more quickly.” It’s fewer letters, one fewer word, consistent with other use, and it’s universally understood. More quickly, is white-glove, blue-hair fussy.
Same with poorer. She is the poorer of the two women sounds wrong.
English is hard enough (queue. phonics, and lisp are three of many abominable words — I mean, really — who was so cruel to put an “s” in “lisp”?)
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