Comparative and superlative adverbs

A2 Elementary

Comparative and superlative adverbs are used to compare how actions are performed. They show if an action is done to a higher degree or the highest degree among a group.

Overview

Adverbs describe how someone does something. Use comparative adverbs to compare two people or things. Use superlative adverbs to compare one person or thing against a whole group.

Form

more + adverb / the most + adverb

For most adverbs ending in -ly, use more for comparatives and the most for superlatives. Short adverbs that do not end in -ly usually take -er and -est endings.

Regular and Irregular Forms

Note that early is an exception; it becomes earlier and the earliest despite ending in -ly.

Adverb	Comparative	Superlative
quickly	more quickly	the most quickly
fast	faster	the fastest
well	better	the best
badly	worse	the worst

Examples

Common mistakes

He works more hard than me.
He works harder than me.
Hard is a short adverb and does not use 'more'.
She sings the most well.
She sings the best.
Well is irregular and changes to 'the best' in the superlative form.

Practice

Complete the sentence: Sarah finished her homework ______ (quickly) than Tom.
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more quickly
Answer:more quickly
Why:For adverbs ending in -ly, use 'more' to form the comparative.
Complete the sentence: Of all the players, David kicked the ball ______ (far).
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the farthest
Answer:the farthest
Why:Use the superlative form 'the farthest' (or 'the furthest') when comparing one person to a whole group.
Complete the sentence: I play piano ______ (well) now than I did last year.
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better
Answer:better
Why:'Well' is an irregular adverb; its comparative form is 'better'.