Comparative Adjectives and Adverbs  

Comparative adverbs, like comparative adjectives, are used to describe differ-

ences and similarities between two things. While comparative adjectives describe
similarities and differences between two nouns (people, places, or objects), com-
parative adverbs make comparisons between two verbs—that is, they describe
how, when, how often, or to what degree an action is done. For example:

• “John is faster than Tim.” (comparative adjective)

• “John runs faster than Tim.” (comparative adverb)

• “John is more careful than Tim in his work.” (comparative adjective)

• “John works more carefully than Tim.” (comparative adverb)

Comparative adverbs and comparative adjectives sometimes have the same form
(as in faster above); other times, they have different forms (as in careful/care-
fully). However, even when the forms are the same, we can tell the difference be-
tween the two by looking at what they modify. While the comparative adjectives de-
scribe differences between the physical or personal characteristics of John and
Tim, the comparative adverbs describe differences in how they DO actions (run,
work).

Forming Comparative
We form comparative adjectives and adverbs by adding the ending “-er” to the base
adverb, or by adding the word more (or less) before the base adverb.

One syllable + “-er”

Adverb (base form) Comparative Adverb
fast faster
hard harder
high higher
late later
In general, when the adverb has only one syllable, we add “-er” to the end of it.
(*Spelling note: When the adverb already ends in the letter “e,” just add “-r,” not “-
er.”)

More +“-ly” adverb

Many adverbs are formed by adding “-ly” to the end of an adjective. If an adverb
has been created according to this pattern, we insert the word more or less to form
the comparative. For example:
Adjective Adverb Comparative Adverb
careful carefully more carefully
efficient efficiently less efficiently
happy happily more happily
recent recently more recently
sad sadly more sadly
strange strangely less strangely

Irregular comparative adverbs

Of course, there are some exceptions to the rules we’ve just looked at. These are
some of the most common irregular comparative adverbs:
Adverb Comparative Adverb
badly worse
far farther/further
little less
well better

As with comparative adjectives, we can state differences in scale by using words

and phrases like a bit, a little, much, and a lot before the comparative adverb. For
example:
• “Tom can run much faster than his brother.”
• “Monkeys jump a lot higher than cats.”
• “Sam drives a little more carefully than Tom.”

Expressing equality using as … as

Another way of expressing similarities or differences with comparative adverbs is by
using the structure “as … as.” To describe two things as equal, we use the con-
struction as + adverb + as. For example:
• “I still run as slowly as I used to.”
• “Tom always drives as carefully as you’d want him to.”
• “Sam finished as quickly as his brother.”
• I don’t run as slowly as I used to.”
• “Tom doesn’t always drive as carefully as you’d want him to.”
• “Sam didn’t finish as quickly as his brother.”
• “Do you still run as slowly as you used to?”
• “Does Tom drive as carefully as you’d want him to?”

Quiz

1. Which of these adverbs has an irregular comparative form?

a) fast
b) badly
c) carefully
d) sadly

3. Which of these is an incorrect comparative adverb?

a) more beautifully
b) more quickly
c) more carefully
d) more higher

4. Which of the following sentences is correct?

a) “He runs fast as his brother.”
b) “He runs as fast as his brother.”
c) “He runs faster as his brother.”
d) “He faster runs as his brother.”

5. Which of the following sentences is correct?

a) “She studies hardlier than her sister.”
b) “She studies harder than her sister.”
c) “She studies harder as her sister.”
d) “She studies hard as her sister.”

Fill in the correct comparative adverb form in brackets.

1. I speak English (fluent) more fluently now than last year.

2. She greeted me (polite) more politely this time.
3. She smiled (happy) more happily than before.
4. That girl dances (graceful) more gracefully than my sister.
5. Could you write (clear) more clearly, please?
6. Planes can fly (high) higher than birds.
7. He had an accident last year. Now, he drives (careful) more care-
fully than before.
8. Jim can run (fast) faster than John.
9. Our team played (bad) worse last night than last week.
10. He worked (hard) harder than ever before.

Note: Compare:
Losing weight is easy if you do lots of exercise.
lt's easy to lose weight if you do lots of exercise.
When a phrase is the SUBJECT of the sentence, we can also use the form It’s
+ adjective in the sentence.
More examples:
Being on time for class is obligatory.
It’s obligatory to be on time for class.

Respecting the rules is essential.

It’s essential to respect the rules.

I know that smoking is very dangerous.

I know that it’s dangerous to smoke.