Video:Learn ESL: Beginner's Guide to Comparatives

Transcript:Learn ESL: Beginner's Guide to Comparatives

Hi, I'm Alfredo Deambrosi, director of OnTargetEnglish.com, and I'm giving a beginner's guide to comparatives for About.com.

What Is a Comparative?

In English, when you want to compare or contrast two things, use a comparative. You can form a comparative by combining an adjective or an adverb with an -er ending and the word than.

Using Comparatives in English

So if you are comparing cars, you can say, The sedan is cheaper than the convertible, but the convertible accelerates faster. Note that when a comparison is implied rather than directly stated, the word than is dropped. If a word ends in -e, just add an -r.

That restaurant was nicer than the one we ate at last week. Add -ier to words that end in -y. The word tasty becomes tastier.

Steak is tastier than hamburgers. Double the final consonant if the last three letters of the word are a consonant, a vowel, and a consonant.

Today is much hotter than yesterday.

Exceptions in Comparatives

The Midwest of the United States is much flatter than the West.

There are a couple of exceptions you should know about. If the adjective is more than two syllables or if the adverb is more than one syllable, use the word more instead of adding the -er ending.

My vacuum cleaner is more powerful since I cleaned the filter.

He ran more quickly after he saw the lightning. When using the adjectives good or bad, use the comparative forms better or worse. Sneakers feel better than dress shoes.

Stomach sleeping is worse for your back than side sleeping.

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