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Comparative and Superlative Adverbs
Forming Comparative and Superlative Adverbs LY Adverbs. With LY adverbs (adverbs formed from adjectives by adding -ly to the end) we form the comparative and superlative forms with more and most. Adjective Adverb Comparative Adverb Superlative Adverb quiet quietly more quietly most quietly careful carefully more carefully most carefully happy happily more happily most happily * Jeff works more quietly than Steve does. * Jeff works the most quietly of all the students. * Mary drives more carefully than John does. * Of the three drivers, Mary drives the most carefully. * Steve works more happily than he used to. * Mary sings the most happily of all the girls in the group. Other Adverbs. For adverbs which retain the same form as the adjective form, we add -er to form the comparative and -est to form the superlative. Adjective Adverb Comparative Adverb Superlative Adverb hard hard harder hardest fast fast faster fastest early early earlier earliest * Please work harder. * Steve works the hardest. * Mary runs faster than John does. * Mary runs the fastest of all the runners on the team. * Steve gets to work earlier than I do. * Steve gets to work the earliest of all. Irregular Adverbs. Adjective Adverb Comparative Adverb Superlative Adverb good well better best bad badly worse worst far far farther/further farthest/furthest * John plays tennis better than Jack does. * On our tennis team, John plays tennis the best. * I did worse on the test than Bart did. * On that test, I did the worst in the class. * My paper airplane flew farther than yours did. * My paper airplane flew the farthest of all. Many adverbs can have different degrees. You may find that your dog can run quickly, your cat can run more quickly, and the mouse that they are chasing can run most quickly. Positive Comparative Superlative quickly more quickly most quickly You've just used the comparative and superlative forms of adverbs to show different degrees. Use the comparative form when you are comparing two actions or qualities. Most comparative adverbs end in -er or begin with more (harder, more easily...). But, there are irregular comparatives which do not end in -er (better, worse...). Use the superlative form when you are comparing three or more things. Most superlative adverbs end in -est or begin with most. (hardest, most easily...). But, just like comparative adverbs, there are some irregularities (best, worst...). Regular Comparatives and Superlatives Positive Comparative Superlative hard harder hardest brightly more brightly most brightly quietly more quietly most quietly Irregular Comparatives and Superlatives Positive Comparative Superlative well better best much more most badly worse worst
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