III - GRAMMAR Comparatives and superlatives

Forming Comparative and Superlative

One-syllable adjectives:

Form the comparative and superlative forms of a one-syllable adjective by adding –er for the comparative form and –est for the superlative.

One-Syllable Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
tall	taller	tallest
old	older	oldest
long	longer	longest

Mary is taller than Max.

Mary is the tallest of all the students.

Max is older than John.

Of the three students, Max is the oldest.

My hair is longer than your hair.

Max's story is the longest story I've ever heard.

If the one-syllable adjective ends with an e, just add –r for the comparative form and –st for the superlative form.

One-Syllable Adjective with Final -e	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
large	larger	largest
wise	wiser	wisest

Mary's car is larger than Max's car.

Mary's house is the tallest of all the houses on the block.

Max is wiser than his brother.

Max is the wisest person I know.

If the one-syllable adjective ends with a single consonant with a vowel before it, double the consonant and add –er for the comparative form; and double the consonant and add –est for the superlative form.

One-Syllable Adjective Ending with a Single Consonant with a Single Vowel before It	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
big	bigger	biggest
thin	thinner	thinnest
fat	fatter	fattest

My dog is bigger than your dog.

My dog is the biggest of all the dogs in the neighborhood.

Max is thinner than John.

Of all the students in the class, Max is the thinnest.

My mother is fatter than your mother.

Mary is the fattest person I've ever seen.

Two-syllable adjectives:

With most two-syllable adjectives, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most.

Two-Syllable Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
peaceful	more peaceful	most peaceful
pleasant	more pleasant	most pleasant
careful	more careful	most careful
thoughtful	more thoughtful	most thoughtful

This morning is more peaceful than yesterday morning.

Max's house in the mountains is the most peaceful in the world.

Max is more careful than Mike.

Of all the taxi drivers, Jack is the most careful.

Jill is more thoughtful than your sister.

Mary is the most thoughtful person I've ever met.

If the two-syllable adjectives ends with –y, change the y to i and add –er for the comparative form. For the superlative form change the y to i and add –est.

Two-Syllable Adjective Ending with -y	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
happy	happier	happiest
angry	angrier	angriest
busy	busier	busiest

John is happier today than he was yesterday.

John is the happiest boy in the world.

Max is angrier than Mary.

Of all of John's victims, Max is the angriest.

Mary is busier than Max.

Mary is the busiest person I've ever met.

Two-syllable adjectives ending in –er, -le, or –ow take –er and –est to form the comparative and superlative forms.

Two-Syllable Adjective Ending with -er, -le, or -ow	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
narrow	narrower	narrowest
gentle	gentler	gentlest

The roads in this town are narrower than the roads in the city.

This road is the narrowest of all the roads in California.

Big dogs are gentler than small dogs.

Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the gentlest.

Adjectives with three or more syllables:

For adjectives with three syllables or more, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most.

Adjective with Three or More Syllables	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
generous	more generous	most generous
important	more important	most important
intelligent	more intelligent	most intelligent

John is more generous than Jack.

John is the most generous of all the people I know.

Health is more important than money.

Of all the people I know, Max is the most important.

Women are more intelligent than men.

Mary is the most intelligent person I've ever met.

Exceptions:

Irregular adjectives.

Irregular Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
good	better	best
bad	worse	worst
far	farther	farthest
little	less	least
many	more	most

Italian food is better than American food.

My dog is the best dog in the world.

My mother's cooking is worse than your mother's cooking.

Of all the students in the class, Max is the worst.

Two-syllable adjectives that follow two rules. These adjectives can be used with -er and -est and with more and most.

Two-Syllable Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
clever	cleverer	cleverest
clever	more clever	most clever
gentle	gentler	gentlest
gentle	more gentle	most gentle
friendly	friendlier	friendliest
friendly	more friendly	most friendly
quiet	quieter	quietest
quiet	more quiet	most quiet
simple	simpler	simplest
simple	more simple	most simple

V - GRAMMAR Syllabication rules

Rule 1

-          Every syllable has one vowel sound

Rule 2

-          The number of vowel sounds in a word equals the number of syllables

o   Home

o   Sub – ject

o   Pub  - lish – ing

Rule 3

-          A one syllable word is never divided

o   Stop

o   Feet

o   Bell

Rule 4

-          Consonant blends and digraphs are never separated

o   Rest – ing

o   Bush – el

o   Reach – ing

Rule 5

-          When a word has a ck or an x in it, the word is usually divided after the ck or x

o   Nick – el

o   Tax – i

Rule 6

-          A compound word is divided between the two words that make the compound word

o   In – side

o   Foot – ball

o   Tooth – brush

Rule 7

-          When two or more consonants come between two vowels in a word, it is usually divided between the first two consonants

o   Sis – ter

o   But – ter

o   Hun – gry

Rule 8

-          When a single consonant comes between two vowels in a word, it is usually divided after the consonant if the vowel is short

o   Lev – er

o   Cab – in

o   Hab – it

Rule 9

-          When a single consonant comes between two vowels in a word, it is usually divided before the consonant if the vowel is long

o   Ba – sin

o   Fe – ver

o   Ma – jor

Rule 10

-          When two vowels come together in a word, and are sounded separately, divide the word between the two vowels

o   Ra – di – o

o   Di – et

o   I – de – a

Rule 11

-          When a vowel is sounded alone in a word, it forms a syllable itself

o   Grad – u – ate

o   A – pron

o   U – nit

Rule 12

-          A word that has a prefix is divided between the root word ant the prefix

o   Dis – count

o   Mis – fit

o   Un – tie

Rule 13

-          When be, de, ex and re are at the beginning of a word, they make a syllable of their own

o   Be – came

o   De – fend

o   Ex – hale

o   Re – main

Rule 14

-          A word that has a suffix is divided between the root and the suffix

o   Kind – ness

o   Thank – ful

o   Stuff –ing

Rule 15

-          When a word ends in le, preceded by a consonant, the word is divided before that consonant

o   Pur – ple

o   Fum –ble

o   Mid – dle

Rule 16

-          When –ed comes at the end of a word, it forms a syllable only when preceded by d or t

o   Star – ed

o   Fund – ed

Rule 17

-          When a word or syllable ends in al or el, these letters usually form the last syllable

o   Lev – el

o   Us – u – al

Rule 18

-          When ture and tion are at the end of a word, they make their own syllable

o   Lo – tion

o   Pos – ture

Rule 19

-          A word should be divided between syllables at the end of a line. The hyphen (-) stays with the syllable at the end of the line

o   By the time they decided to go to the supermar-

ket, it was already dark.