Comparatives

When you use it

Use a comparative adjective to compare two people, things or situations: one is older, cheaper or more comfortable than the other. Comparatives also describe change over time (it is getting colder) and show that two things depend on each other (the earlier, the better). To say that two things are the same, use as ... as; to say they are not, use not as ... as. A comparative always involves exactly two sides, even when one side is only implied: the weather is better means better than it was, or better than somewhere else. As soon as three or more items are in view, you need a superlative instead.

How it is formed

The form depends on the length of the adjective.

A few two-syllable adjectives take either form: quieter / more quiet, simpler / more simple, narrower / more narrow. When in doubt, more is always understood. Adjectives ending in -ed or -ful never take -er: more tired, more useful.

To make the difference stronger or weaker, put much, far, a lot, a bit, a little, slightly before the comparative: much older, a bit cheaper. After than an object pronoun is normal in speech: older than me; older than I am is the formal alternative.

Examples

• Tom is older than his brother.
• This bakery is cheaper than the one near the station.
• Our new flat is bigger, but the street is busier.
• Trains are more expensive than buses here.
• The film was better than the book, which is unusual.
• My cold is worse today than yesterday.
• Anna's school is farther from home than mine.
• It is much warmer inside than outside.

The first three examples use -er, the fourth uses more, the fifth to seventh are irregular, and the last shows much making the difference stronger.

Common mistakes

• ✗ Tom is more tall than Anna. / ✗ This is more cheaper.
  ✓ Tom is taller than Anna. / This is cheaper.
  Ukrainian and Russian often build comparatives with a separate word, «більш високий / более высокий», next to the one-word form «вищий / выше». English does not give this choice with short adjectives: one syllable takes -er, and more and -er never combine.
• ✗ She is older from me. / ✗ She is older as me.
  ✓ She is older than me.
  «Старша від мене / старше меня» use a preposition or the genitive case. The English comparative takes than, and only than. As belongs to the equal comparison as old as.
• ✗ My car is not so big like yours.
  ✓ My car is not as big as yours.
  The equality pattern is as ... as on both sides. Like compares things in general («як / как»), not degrees of an adjective.
• ✗ It is more good. / ✗ This is badder.
  ✓ It is better. / This is worse.
  Good, bad, far have irregular forms that must be learned, just as «хороший → лучше» does not follow the regular pattern.
• ✗ The more you practise, more easy it becomes.
  ✓ The more you practise, the easier it becomes.
  The double-comparative pattern needs the in both halves. Slavic «чим більше ..., тим ... / чем больше ..., тем ...» has its own frame with «тим / тем»; the English frame is the ... the.

Try it