El comparativo y el Superlativo en ingls

Al igual que en espaol, en ingls cuando queremos comparar dos cosas utilizamos
los adjetivos y sus distintos grados: positivo, comparativo y superlativo.
A sunny day / A better day / Today is the best day of the year

-EQUAL COMPARATIVE

Se forma con el adjetivo intercalado entre la construccin "as...as" (tan...como)

para frases afirmativas e interrogativas y "not as...as" o "not so...as" para las
frases negativas.
I'm as young as you / soy tan joven como t
am I as young as you? / soy tan joven como t?
I'm not so young as you / no soy tan joven como t
He is as young as she; He is as young as her / l es tan joven como ella
Si se trata de una comparacin entre dos verbos, podemos usar la expresin "as
much as" (tanto como) tambin en forma negativa
She does not work as much as she should / Ella no trabaja tanto como
debera
Cuando la comparacin se hace entre dos sustantivos se utiliza "as much as" para
el singular y "as many as" para el plural.
I have as much work as my boss / Tengo tanto trabajo como mi jefe
I have as many pencils as you / Tengo tantos lpices como t
Si estamos comparando dos sustantivos contables (libros, coches, casas...)
utilizaremos "as many... as", pero si estamos comparando dos sustantivos
incontables (madera, tiempo, msica...) usaremos la construccin "as much...as".
We have as many books as them / Tenemos tantos libros como ellos
We have as much space as them / Tenemos tanto espacio como ellos
- COMPARATIVO DE INFERIORIDAD

Se forma con el adjetivo intercalado entre la construccin "less...than"

(menos...que), aunque es ms usual encontrar la comparacin de igualdad en
forma negativa (que tiene el mismo significado).
He's less young than you / l es menos joven que t
He's not as young as you / l no es tan joven como t (ms usual)
Normalmente se emplea less para incontables y fewer para contables
COMPARATIVE OF SUPERIORITY
There are two ways:
Adding the adjective suffix -er for the comparative of superiority and -est for the
superlative.
=

+ er

+ est

big

bigger

biggest

ADJETIVES COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

1.

Only one syllable adjectives.

POSITIVE
Strange
Fast
Cheap
Cold
Small

COMPARATIVE
Add -R: or ER.
Stranger than
Faster than
Cheaper than
Colder than
Smaller than

SUPERLATIVE
Add ST or EST
The
The
The
The
The

Strangest
Fastest
Cheapest
Coldest
Smallest

2.

Only one syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at the end.

POSITIVE

Hot
Sad
Big
Thin

3.

Hotter than
Sadder than
Bigger than
Thinner than

SUPERLATIVE
Double the consonant, and
add -EST:
The Hottest
The Saddest
The Biggest
The Thinnest

Two syllables, ending in Y.

POSITIVE

Busy
Noisy
Dirty
Friendly
4.

COMPARATIVE
Double the consonant,
and add -ER:

COMPARATIVE
Change Y to I, then add
-ER:
Busier than
Noisier than
Dirtier than
Friendlier than

SUPERLATIVE
Change Y to I, then add
-EST:
The
The
The
The

Busiest
Noisiest
Dirtiest
Friendliest

Two syllables or more, not ending in Y.

POSITIVE

Difficult
Important
Crowded
Modern

COMPARATIVE
Use MORE OR less before
the adjective:
More
More
More
More

Difficult than
Important than
Crowded than
Modern than

SUPERLATIVE
Use MOST before the
adjective:
The
The
The
The

most
most
most
most

Difficult
Important
Crowded
Modern

5. Irregular Forms:

ADJECTIVE
Good
Bad
Far

COMPARATIVE
Better
Worse
Farther/ further

SUPERLATIVE
The best
The worst
The farthest/ furthest

Meaning
1. We use comparative adjectives to compare two things.
o

John is thinner than Bob.

It's more expensive to travel by train than by bus.

My house is smaller than my friend's house.

2. We use superlative adjectives to compare one thing with the rest of the
group it belongs to.
o

John is the tallest in the class.

He's the best football player in the team.

This is the most expensive hotel I've ever stayed in.

3. We use as + adjective + as to say that two things are equal in some way.
o

He's as tall as me.

Jim's car is as fast as mine.

4. We use not as + adjective + as to say that two things are not equal in
some way.
o

Jim's car is not as fast as mine.

5. We can repeat comparatives to say that something is changing.

o

These exams are getting worse and worse every year.

She gets more and more beautiful every time I see her.

Additional points
1. We can modify comparatives with much, a lot, far, a little, a bit,
slightly + comparative adjective
o

Bob is much richer than I am.

My mother's hair is slightly longer than mine.

2. We can modify superlatives with by far, easily and nearly + superlative

adjective.
o

Mario's is by far the best restaurant in town.

I'm nearly the oldest in the class.

3. We do not use the with the superlative if there is a possessive.

o

His strongest point is his ambition.

4. If the second part of a comparative or superlative sentence is clear from

what comes before or from the context, we can omit it.
o

Going by bus is very fast, but the train is more comfortable.

How to use comparatives and superlatives

Equatives

Equatives are used to compare two things that are equal in the
quality that you are describing. You use as + adjective + as.
Dan is 5 feet 10 inches tall. His father is 5 feet 10 inches tall.

Dan is as tall as his father.

Dan's cat has eyes as blue as sapphires.

My sister's hair is as long as mine (is).

Equatives are also used to compare two things that are unequal
( not equal) in the quality that you are describing. You use not as
+ adjective + as
Today isn't hot. Yesterday was hot.

Today isn't as hot as yesterday (was).

This soup isn't as spicy as the soup I had last night.

I'm not as intelligent as the other students.

My house isn't as big as your house.

Countable and Uncountable Nouns: Comparing Quantities

You can compare quantities in different ways, depending on the type of noun you are
referring to.
Have you heard of countable and uncountable nouns?
When talking about uncountable nouns; such as time, coffee, rice, milk and love; you
would need to use more than and less than.
Take a look at the following examples:
There is less chocolate ice cream in my bowl than in Julians bowl.
My father enjoys eating rice more than vegetable soup.
If youre talking about countable nouns, like pencils, cars, movies and games, you
would use more than and fewer than to make comparisons of quantity.
Examples:
When I was 10 years old, I had more toy cars than Andrew had.
Mary has fewer pencils than Jane.
When two uncountable nouns share the same quantity, use as much as and as little
as.
As for countable nouns, use as many as and as few as.
Examples:
John is taking as many courses this scholastic year as he did last year.
I love chocolate as much as I hate vegetables.
I used as little money as my boyfriend did, but he bought much more than I did!
There are as few musicians in the park as there were last time we visited.