Degree of comparison in adverbs

Degree of comparison in adverbs

There are three Degrees of Comparison in adverbs which are used to describe the verb, advective or another adverb in the sentence:

1. Positive degree.

2. Comparative degree.

3. Superlative degree.

The adverbs form their comparatives and superlatives using -er and -est , and more and most. Adverbs that end in -ly use the words more and most to form their comparatives and superlatives.

Let us see all of them one by one.

Base form of the adverbs - without any comparison, we use the normal form of the adverbs.

He drives fast.

She speaks slowly.

I remember new names easily.

Degrees of comparison:

👉Positive degree

as + base form of the adverbs + as

Examples:

He drives as fast as the second person in this competition.

She reads as slowly as she can.

👉Comparative degree

base form of the adverb + -er	than
more + base form of the adverb

Examples:

He won the competition because he drives faster than the others.

She speaks more loudly than a loudspeaker.

I remember new names more easily than him.

👉Superlative degrees  

We use the article “the” before the superlative degrees.

the	base form of the adverb + -est
	most + base form of the adverb

Examples:

He drives the fastest in the competition.

She reads most slowly.

I remember new words most easily than everybody in the class.

Formation of comparative and superlative degrees of the adverbs

📑The one-syllable adverbs use -er in the comparative form, and -est in the superlative form. 

positive	comparative	superlative
early	earlier	earliest
fast	faster	fastest
hard	harder	hardest
high	higher	highest
late	later	latest
loud	louder	loudest
near	nearer	nearest
soon	sooner	soonest

📑Adverbs which end in -ly or have three or more syllables each form the comparative with more and the superlative with most. 

positive	comparative	superlative
angrily	more angrily	most angrily
brightly	more brightly	most brightly
dimly	more dimly	most dimly
freely	more freely	most freely
gladly	more gladly	most gladly
heavily	more heavily	most heavily
loudly	more loudly	most loudly
quietly	more quietly	most quietly
sweetly	more sweetly	most sweetly
terribly	more terribly	most terribly

📑Some adverbs form the comparative and the superlative irregularly.

positive	comparative	superlative
badly	worse (than)	(the) worst
far	farther	farthest
far	further	furthest
little	less	least
much/many	more	most
well	better	best

Read also vocabulary about:

• Telling the time

• Days of the week

• Months of the year

• Friends

• Family

• Weather

• Vegetables

• Fruits