Form and use comparative and superlative adverbs
Key Notes:
✨ What are Adverbs?
👉 Adverbs describe how, when, where, or to what extent an action happens.
Example: She runs quickly. 🏃♀️💨
✨ Comparative Adverbs 🥈
- Used to compare two actions.
- Usually formed by adding -er or using “more/less” before the adverb.
✅ Examples: - She runs faster than him. 🏃♀️⚡🏃
- He speaks more clearly than his brother. 🗣️🎤
✨ Superlative Adverbs 🥇
- Used to compare more than two actions (the best, the highest degree).
- Usually formed by adding -est or using “most/least” before the adverb.
✅ Examples: - Of all the students, Riya answered fastest. 🎓✨
- She sang most beautifully in the competition. 🎶🏆
✨ Rules for Forming Adverbs 📘
1️⃣ One-syllable adverbs → add -er/-est
- fast → faster → fastest 🏁
2️⃣ Adverbs ending in –ly → use more/most - carefully → more carefully → most carefully 🕵️♀️
3️⃣ Irregular adverbs → change form completely - well → better → best 💯
- badly → worse → worst 😟
✨ Common Mistakes ❌
- Don’t use “more + -er” or “most + -est”.
❌ more faster → ✅ faster
❌ most fastest → ✅ fastest
✨ Quick Examples 🌈
- She danced gracefully. 💃
- She danced more gracefully than her friend. 🌟
- She danced most gracefully of all. 👑
👉 In short:
- Comparative = two actions (faster, more carefully).
- Superlative = three or more actions (fastest, most carefully).
Learn with an example
Complete the sentence with the correct comparative or superlative adverb.
- Harvey behaves the _____(maturely) of any young man I’ve ever met.
This sentence compares the actions of Harvey and all the young men I’ve met. The actions of a person are compared to the actions of a larger group the person is part of. That means you should use a superlative adverb. Since maturely has more than one syllable, add most to make the superlative adverb, most maturely.
Complete the sentence with the correct comparative or superlative adverb.
- Luke has an incredible memory, so he usually remembers details ____(distinctly) than I do.
This sentence compares the actions of Luke and me. The actions of two people are compared, so you should use a comparative adverb. Since distinctly has more than one syllable, add more to make the comparative adverb, more distinctly.
Complete the sentence with the correct comparative or superlative adverb.
- As it turned out, our train left the depot much_____( late) than scheduled.
This sentence compares the actions of the train in reality and the train as scheduled. The actions of two things are compared, so you should use a comparative adverb. Since late has one syllable and ends in e, drop the e and add -er to make the comparative adverb, later.
let’s practice!
