How to Spot Comparative Adjectives

Adjectives are one of the eight parts of speech along with nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, interjections and conjunctions. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun and a comparative adjective does exactly what it says--compares two nouns.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Use comparative adjectives when you are comparing two nouns. Usually you need to use the word "than" in the sentence. The following is an example of comparing two nouns, "My yard is larger than your yard."

2. Prepare to follow certain rules when using comparative adjectives. When using a one-syllable adjective, add "er" to it. An example is "This box is fuller than that box."

3. Look at adjectives ending in "y." To make them a comparative adjective change the "y" to "i" and add "er." Examples include "happy," "early" and "merry" as shown in the sentence, "He is happier (or earlier or merrier) than I am."

4. Add "more" to the adjective if it has more than one syllable. For example, "My coat is more expensive than her coat."

5. Notice how the adjective ends. If the adjective already ends in "e" than you only need to add an "r" to it, for example "large" becomes "larger" and "safe" becomes "safer."

6. Check one-syllable adjectives that end in a consonant with a vowel prior to it. Here, double the consonant before adding "er." Some examples are "thin" becomes "thinner," "big" becomes "bigger" and "hot" becomes "hotter."

7. Observe the adjectives that are exceptions to the rule. These include "bad" which becomes "worse," "far" which becomes either "farther" or "further," and "good" which becomes "better."

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