An ELT Notebook: Language Matters: Comparatives and Superlatives

What are the rules for the formation of comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs in English? Look at the questions below and consider the examples (all, unless otherwise stated, from authentic discourse and found using various corpora including those accessible in the Lextutor concordancer) before you scroll down to the Commentary.

Question 1

a. Look at the textbooks you use with your learners. Most series will deal at some point with comparative and superlative adjectives. Do any of them mention comparative and superlative adverbs? Eg :

She speaks English more fluently than she speaks German
Hawaii is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the world.

What about the grammar book(s) that you use for your own reference?

b. How do they explain the difference between a comparative and superlative? Could their explanation deal with:

It's one of the better libraries in the town.
It's one of the best libraries in the town

c. What rules do these books give for the formation of comparatives and superlatives with one-syllable adjectives (and adverbs if mentioned)?

d. To what extent do these rules explain the following examples of adjectives, again

... and this is even more true when you are ill.
... that if I told anyone, it would make it more real.
Hailed as the `most real, meatiest, heaviest metal album of 1994" by ...
... minimum sentences making drug laws more fair or just more severe?
the city is a lot more quiet and a lot more calm than it has been

Consider also right, wrong, vivid and apt. What would be their comparative and superlative forms?

Question 2

a. What about two-syllable words? How well do your grammar books/textbooks deal with these? How well do they explain the following, again authentic examples from a concordancer.

... it is very rare in infants and becomes much commoner in the middle and older age groups.
Skin cancer in Britain is becoming more common ...
The alley grew narrower and then ...
The longer the lens, you use, the more narrow the angle of view...
and breathing often becomes more shallow and rapid.
This branch canyon was much shallower than Many Ruins
...it seems even more stupid now.
It gets stupider still.
the city is a lot more quiet and a lot more calm than it has been.
She was much quieter...
Hailed as the `most real, meatiest, heaviest metal album of 1994" by ...

b. And what do they say about two-syllable adjectives ending in -y? Do they make any distinction between those and the ones above? To what extent do their explanations match the following?

... it doesn't make you any more happy,
Conservatives on the opposite wing are no more happy.
`I'm feeling healthier, more happy with myself and just in general," she said. `
...he found women hard to fathom and was more happy in the company of men.
But there's other things that I'm more happy about--
In Ulster I met the most friendly, hospitable people in the world, but I also
... impressive and important. We parted in most friendly courteous fashion.
... for this must be one of the most friendly places on earth
... that'd be even more funny wouldn't it.

c. But what about if the two-syllable words ending in -y are adverbs? Is there any choice then? Consider:

She speaks English more fluently than she speaks German
Hawaii is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the world.

d. And what rules are given for words with three or more syllables - expensive, comfortable ridiculous etc?

COMMENTARY

You probably found considerable differences between the "standard" rules that you'll find in any coursebook and most grammar books, and the examples in the questions above. I'm afraid that if you compare the “standard” rules against how people really use the language they don't stand up. That doesn't mean that they can't be useful in the classroom - particularly at beginner levels. They are generalisations - safe and simple rules that low-level students can cope with and which work in a lot of cases. But sooner or later your students are going to come up against real usage, and will start asking questions like "But I thought XXX so why does it say here YYY". You therefore need to know the way these words are really used and be ready to answer the questions when they come up, or introduce the more complex rules when the students are ready for them.

In the following discussion, italics mean a summary of one or more “standard” textbook explanations while the analysis that follows is mine.

"RULE" ONE:

Comparatives are used to compare two things, e.g. "Russia is bigger than China"
The two things being compared must be nouns, noun phrases or pronouns, e.g.
"They are more experienced than the current group of new recruits"

This presumes that comparatives and superlatives are adjectives. But don't forget that adverbs also have a comparative /superlative form :

She speaks English more fluently than she speaks German
Hawaii is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the world.

And of course, as adverbs, they modify verbs and adjectives rather than nouns.

"RULE" TWO:

Comparatives are used to compare two things, e.g.

"Russia is bigger than China".

If there are three or more things a superlative would be used

Billy is the biggest boy in the class.

unless one can be compared to the others as a group, e.g.
"Billy is bigger than the other boys in his class"

No. This doesn't hold up at all. Look at these examples :

David is stronger than Billy, but Billy is the fastest of the two.
David is stronger than Billy, Paul, Brian and Fred....

Any time there is a direct comparison, then the comparative is used regardless of the number. Similarly, the superlative doesn't depend on number but just expresses the idea of "the utmost" of a group - which may be a group of two. As always, it is meaning which determines the choice, not some abstract rule about number. See also the example of "one of the better/best libraries" above.

"RULE" THREE:

There are various rules for the formation of a comparative adjective:
Shorter adjectives have an -er form: long - longer; short -shorter

"Short" is a bit vague here - but presumably they mean one-syllable. This is generally but not always true. Look at these examples:

... and this is even more true when you are ill.
... that if I told anyone, it would make it more real.
Hailed as the `most real, meatiest, heaviest metal album of 1994" by ...
... minimum sentences making drug laws more fair
the city is a lot more quiet and a lot more calm than it has been

True, fair and calm also have -er/-est forms, but real? It sounds very odd to me. Searching through corpora, I only found one example : "in the realer world out there, in the arctic wastes ..."

Consider also right, wrong, and apt. What would be their comparative/superlative forms? Are they as "flexible" as some of the others? Corpus research only brings up examples with "more"

you couldn't be more right.
If we get it wrong in year two, it will be even more wrong in year three
He no doubt concurs in principle but is more apt to make exceptions

However, the general "flexibility" is particularly evident when the one-syllable adjectives form the first part of a compound expression :

... the opposition party's widest-ranging policy review
... the reforms, which are generally agreed to be the most wide-ranging and fundamental since...
at a time when they are most hard-pressed at work
Often the World Bank and the IMF have required the hardest-pressed countries to adopt
until a more long-term solution is found
a fundamental error which will exact an even greater toll in the longer term

But if one-syllable words are sometimes flexible, that's even more true for two-syllable words. Have a look at these :

... it is very rare in infants and becomes much commoner in the middle and older age groups.
Skin cancer in Britain is becoming more common ...
The alley grew narrower and then ...
The longer the lens, you use, the more narrow the angle of view...
and breathing often becomes more shallow and rapid.
This branch canyon was much shallower than Many Ruins
...it seems even more stupid now.
It gets stupider still.
the city is a lot more quiet and a lot more calm than it has been.
She was much quieter...

This goes for two-syllable adjectives ending in "y" too. A standard rule is:

"RULE" FOUR:

Adjectives ending y, change y to ier in the comparative: funny - funnier, happy - happier and to -iest in the superlative: funny - funniest. happy - happiest.

But the concordancer pulls up lots of more/most examples as well:

... it doesn't make you any more happy,
Conservatives on the opposite wing are no more happy.
`I'm feeling healthier, more happy with myself and just in general," she said. `
...he found women hard to fathom and was more happy in the company of men.
But there's other things that I'm more happy about--
In Ulster I met the most friendly, hospitable people in the world, but I also
... impressive and important. We parted in most friendly courteous fashion.
... for this must be one of the most friendly places on earth
... that'd be even more funny wouldn't it.

It's tempting therefore to tell learners that for 2-syllable words "It doesn't matter -use which you like". But the situation is more complex than that. Could you use the -er/est version of the words with the following 2-syllable adjectives (and many others too numerous to list)?

The situation is more complex than that.
.. take a more active role
this is one of the most basic principles...
What is the most current version?

The British National Corpus brings up no examples of -er/-est forms for any of these words.

However, he more/most rule does hold up for 3+syllable words, you'll be pleased to note :)

"RULE" FIVE:

All comparative adverbs are formed using more + adverb + than, e.g. Ringo runs more quickly than Rex.

Again, not true for one syllable adverbs, which take -er/est :

She works harder than most of the class.
He runs faster than I can.
Our old dog sleeps longer these days than he used to..

"RULE" SIX

Two things can be compared using (not) as.... as:
"Barcelona are as good as Manchester United"
"Maradonna was not as good as Pele."

OK, but note that in the negative, so..as is very common :

It was hard, but not so hard as cross-country skiing

"RULE" SEVEN

The superlative is preceded by the definite article - eg It's the most interesting book I've ever read.

But isn't this just due to the "normal" meaning of the definite article in this context, indicating shared knowledge between reader and writer (see here)? The article modifies the noun "book", not the superlative expression. There are many examples of superlatives with no use of "the" at all:

That's my most vivid memory of the time.
Britain's biggest baker, Ranks Hovis McDougall, has emerged as...
One of Rome's oldest places...
...the book is most interesting in its account of...
It's Britain's second largest union
..the environment in which you will feel happiest.
This page is about choosing which Key Concepts are most relevant for your particular group of learners

The "rules" given in textbooks are therefore often simplifications of the real situtation and/or (like the rule regarding the use of the definite article) based on frequency of occurrence rather than on natural vs unnatural language use.

Two points I might add to all this, which are rarely covered in textbooks, are that:

a) the comparative is often intensified using a lot, much, considerably, a bit, far etc:

It was far harder than I expected
He was much more friendly than we expected
She speaks a lot more fluently than she used to.

while the superlative can be intensified by expressions such as "by far" or "easily" and "much" or "pretty much"

It's pretty much the loudest acoustic guitar I've played
It was by far the worst day of my life.
He's easily the most qualified candidate.

and also...

b) not every construction using most + adj/adv is a superlative. "Most" can also be used as an intensifier with the meaning "extremely". Some examples:

It was a most frank discussion = It was an extremely frank discussion.
I found him most rude = I found him extremely rude.
She spoke most fluently = She spoke extremely fluently.

As these are not superlatives, the -est version cannot be used even where it would be possible in the superlative form.

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Language Matters: Comparatives and Superlatives