Hi, I'm Kelsey, and this is my friend Mia.
We're here to help you learn about comparative and superlative adjectives.
As you know, adjectives are words that modify a noun or a pronoun. That means that, in some way,
they either make it more distinct or they describe a person, place, thing, or idea.
For this reason, adjectives are classified as modifiers because their superpower lies
in their ability to modify, or change and shape, our perception of a noun or pronoun.
Some adjectives only make the noun more distinct, so they don't change much about it,
but they're still important. Remember the articles "a," "an," and "the"? Well, there's a difference
between saying, "I want a donut" and "I want the donut." Our understanding of the noun "donut"
is changed by the article selected. "A donut" is non-specific or indefinite and could mean
any donut. "The donut" is a definite article, meaning there is a specific donut that you want.
Those articles can come in very handy if you're picky about your donuts.
Let's look at adjectives that describe nouns and pronouns. A word like "scrumptious" can be
used to describe this donut. You could say, "That was a scrumptious donut" or "It was scrumptious."
There's a lot to learn about adjectives that describe. They do a lot of work. I could tell you
that I'm a pretty fast runner. Notice that "fast" is the adjective I used to describe the noun
"runner." But as fast as I am, I have to admit that my friends are faster runners.
That's why they're on the track team. And that word "faster"? Well, it's classified
as a comparative adjective because it's used to compare two nouns.
So, now you know that a comparative adjective is the form of an adjective
used when comparing equality, quantity, or relation expressed by an adjective.
You use comparative adjectives all the time to compare nouns. For example, you might be tall, but
your friend is taller. Or then there's "dark" and "darker." Or how about "nice" and "nicer"? Notice
that to create the comparative form of these adjectives, we just added the suffix "er." These
are what we call regular comparative adjectives. But, of course, it's not always that simple.
We also have irregular comparative adjectives. These are comparative adjectives that are
a little more complicated because we do something other than adding the suffix "er."
Let's say that when you got your bike, you were happy. But when you got your dog, you were even
happier. The adjective "happy" ends with a "y" that is preceded by a consonant,
so we have to follow the old "change the y to an i" rule. And then there are some adjectives like
"good" for which we use a different word entirely as the comparative adjective.
That donut was good, but this doughnut is even better. And then there are some
adjectives that require an extra word to make the comparative form. For example,
remember that donut that was so scrumptious? Well, a better donut wouldn't be described as
"scrumptiouser." Instead, we would say "more scrumptious." Words like these are called
irregular comparative adjectives because they are not formed by simply adding the suffix "er."
Now we need to learn about superlative adjectives.
Remember how I said I'm a pretty fast runner, but that my friends are faster?
Well, my friend Marta is the fastest runner I know. "Fastest" is called a superlative adjective
because it represents the extreme, or the greatest degree to which that adjective can be applied.
So now you know that a superlative adjective is the form of an adjective used to indicate
an extreme or unsurpassed level of equality, quantity, or relation expressed by an adjective.
As with comparative adjectives, there is a regular way to create superlative adjectives. Of course,
the superlative form of "fast" is "fastest," and the superlative form of "tall" is "tallest."
"Dark" becomes "darkest." And, one more, the furthest extreme for "nice"
is "nicest." Adding the suffix "est" to an adjective usually makes it superlative.
But of course, that's not always true. We also have irregular superlative adjectives.
We'll start with an easy one. Remember that happy day when you got your bike
and the happier day when you got your dog? What would be the happiest day of your life?
The adjective "good," as you recall, requires a different word for its comparative form.
Well, it's the same for the superlative. For the adjective "good," the comparative
form is "better," and the superlative form is "best." Remember that scrumptious donut?
Well, the best donut you ever ate would not be "the scrumptiousest."
It would be "the most scrumptious." These are just a few of the irregular superlative adjectives.
Let's do a little practice.
We'll start with the adjective "smart." What's the comparative form of "smart"? Right, "smarter." And
the superlative? You got it, "smartest." All right, let's look at the comparative adjective
"worse." What's the superlative for "worse"? It's "worst." Hm. So now we have "worse" and "worst."
What's the adjective we would start with? It's "bad." "Bad," "worse," "worst."
Last one, we'll start with the superlative and work backward.
If the superlative is "most expensive," what's the comparative adjective?
That's right, "more expensive." And the adjective we would start with would be "expensive."
You've probably been using these adjectives for a long time, but now you know that a comparative
adjective is used when comparing a quality, quantity, or relation expressed by an adjective
and a superlative adjective is used to indicate an extreme or unsurpassed level of that quality,
quantity, or relation. Now all you need to remember is to always be clever.