Look at these examples to see how we use comparative adjectives.
The city is more interesting than the countryside.
This house is older than my house.
She's better at cooking now than before.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
We use comparative adjectives to compare two things or show change. The comparative form depends on the number of syllables in the adjective.
Adjectives with one syllable
To make comparative forms with one-syllable adjectives, we usually add -er:
old → older
clean → cleaner
slow → slower
If an adjective ends in -e, we add -r:
safe → safer
nice → nicer
If an adjective ends in a vowel and a consonant, we usually double the consonant:
big → bigger
hot → hotter
Adjectives with two or more syllables
If a two-syllable adjective ends in a consonant and -y, we change -y to -i and add -er:
noisy → noisier
happy → happier
easy → easier
We use more to make comparative forms for most other two-syllable adjectives and for all adjectives with three or more syllables:
crowded → more crowded
stressful → more stressful
dangerous → more dangerous
Exception: You can either add -er/-r or use more with some two-syllable adjectives, such as common, cruel, gentle, handsome, likely, narrow, pleasant, polite, simple and stupid.
I think life in the countryside is simpler than in the city.
It's more simple to live in the city because everything you need is there.
Irregular adjectives
The adjectives good, bad and far have irregular comparative forms:
good → better
bad → worse
far → further/farther
Than
When we want to say which person or thing we are comparing with, we can use than:
Their house is cleaner than ours.
Traffic is slower in the city than in the countryside.
After the race I was more tired than Anne.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
It is well known that the comparative with -er is used in one syllable but with two or more syllables is used MORE...What about with FRIENDLY ? How many syllables?
Hello SEGPEL,
This is a tricky one because the answers is that there is no rule. Some two-syllable words use -er/-est and some use more/most. For example, we say 'cleverer' and 'the cleverest' but usually 'more stupid' and 'the most stupid'.
The good news is that most can take either form, so while you may use a form which sounds a little odd to a native speaker's ear, you're unlikely to create a form which is straight-up incorrect. For example, it is not wrong to say 'more clever' or 'the most clever', nor is it wrong to say 'stupider' or 'the stupidest'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
It is really useful for me and I know my level.Thanks for your plans.
What about adjectives like bored, tired, drunk? Why do I say I am more bored than her? Which one is correct: I am more drunk or drunker than her?
Thank you so much.
Hi nathynha27,
There are adjectives that don't follow the patterns described above.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
It's really useful, thanks for your kind support.
Why doesn't this sentence say "more dangerous"? Why use "More of + noun?" I'm confused here. Do "More + adjective" and "More of + noun" have the same meaning? Could you give other examples in the struture "More of + noun?" This is new to me because I usually say "more + adjective".
He attacked with such pace and I believe he was more of a danger than Pele at the time - he was a phenomenon, capable of sheer magic.
Hi Gendeng,
You could also use the adjective and say "he was more dangerous than Pele" here. As for the difference in meaning, it's simply that "dangerous" is an adjective, and "a danger" is a noun. Adjectives describe how something is (i.e., its qualities or characteristics). Nouns say what something is.
Although the word "more" is in this sentence, it isn't integral to the adjective/noun. For example, you can say "It was surprising" or "It was a surprise".
Here are a few more examples with "more of" + noun.
People might use "more of" + noun if no related adjective exists (see examples 1 and 3 above). Or, using the related adjective might sound unusual for some reason (e.g. in 4, although the adjective "celebratory" does exist, it's less commonly used than the noun "celebration"). Other times, there may be no apparent reason for choosing the noun over the adjective (e.g., example 2 - it could also say "Air pollution is more concerning ..."), and there is no significant difference.
I hope that helps to understand it.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Thanks, Jonathan. I'm still confused about the meaning of "more of" here. Does it mean more about/ a larger degree? How do you paraphrase "more of" in this context so that I can understand clearly. Please give me a clear meaning about "more of".
1. Messy is more of a striker than midfielder = more about strike
2. What I ate is more of a snack than a meal = a larger part of snack.
3. "Could" is softener, more of a suggestion = more about a suggestion
4. More of a nuisance than it should be. = More about nuisance.
5. She seemed to be in even more of a mood for needling me than normal. = ... in even more like mood.
6. It's more rain than fog = It's a greater rain than fog.
Hi Gendeng,
It means "to a greater degree", or "more similar to". For example, (1) Messi is to a greater degree a striker than he is a midfielder; or Messi is more similar to a striker than to a midfielder. (2) What I ate was to a greater degree a snack than it was a meal; or what I ate was more similar to a snack than to a meal.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team