Comparative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives compare two things. They go with “than”. Here are some examples:

• I am taller than my sister. 
• She is older than Paul.
• The bicycle is bigger than the pen.

Here is the structure:

Comparative Adjective Structure

Subject + BE + Adjective + ER + Than
Subject + BE + More + Adjective + Than

Examples:

• The car is bigger than the bicycle.
• The dress is more expensive than the pants.

You should notice the two different structures for comparative adjectives. Ones uses ER and the other uses MORE. But how do you know when to use each? Follow this table:

The basic idea is short adjectives use ER and longer adjectives use MORE. Here are some short ones:

• The cat is smaller than the dog.
• I am older than my brother.
• The laptop is cheaper than the tablet.

And here are some longer words:

• The tablet is more expensive than the laptop.
• Mary is more intelligent than Michael.
• The book was more interesting than the movie.

Irregular Comparative Adjectives

A few comparatives don’t follow the structure above. Don’t worry, there aren’t too many. Here is the list:

Here are some examples:

• The book was better than the movie.
• My test score was worse than Lucy’s test score.
• I have more money than you.

These are the rules for using adjectives correctly. Do you think you know how to do it? Check your understanding with these tests:

Comparative Adjectives Test

Comparative Adjectives Test 2