When you are comparing the cuteness of two things, is it correct to say one is cuter or more cute? If you’re thinking it depends on how cute the items are, you are… WRONG! The answer is that “cuter” is correct. There is actually a rule. It has to do with something called comparative adjectives.
What’s a Comparative Adjective?
A comparative adjective is the form of an adjective used to compare two things. Think of words like harder, better, faster and stronger (Does that remind you of a song?). Let’s use some comparative adjectives in a sentence. For example:
“This mattress is definitely harder than the one we have at home.”
“Michael Jordan and Lebron James are both great players, but I like Lebron better.”
“Michelle ran faster than me in the last race.”
“I feel stronger than I did last year.”
For the most part, the rules of comparative adjectives are straightforward. If we are talking about regular comparative adjectives, all you have to do is consider the number of syllables (we’ll discuss the difference between regular and irregular comparative adjectives later).
If it is a one syllable adjective, just add “er.”
| Adjective | Comparative |
| loud | louder |
| soft | softer |
| round | rounder |
| tall | taller |
If it is a regular two syllable adjective, in most cases you can either add “er” to the end or use “more” before the adjective. If you are modifying an adjective that ends in “y” change the “y” to “i” before adding the “er.” See below:
| Adjective | Comparative |
| happy | happier or more happy |
| crunchy | crunchier or more crunchy |
| narrow | narrower or more narrow |
| simple | simpler |
Got an adjective with three or more syllables? It’s best to just add “more” before the word.
| Adjective | Comparative |
| exciting | more exciting |
| gigantic | more gigantic |
| reputable | more reputable |
| dangerous | More dangerous |
What’s an Irregular Comparative Adjective?
So of course there is an exception to the rule. After all this is the English language. Rules were meant to be broken! So there’s a category of adjectives (irregular) that don’t follow the typical (or regular) rules of comparative adjectives. Here is a short list of the major ones:
| Adjective | Comparative |
| much / many | more |
| far | further / farther |
| bad | worse |
| good | better |
So, how much have you learned today? Have you learned more than you thought? I hope you thought it was a good article. I don’t think we could have done a better job!
Well I hope we didn’t confuse you too much:) If you have more questions about grammar rules or if you want to perfect your English grammar, sign up a Lingoloop free trial class. Meet with one of our qualified teachers today. During the trial class we’ll assess your speaking skills and develop a plan to help you feel good speaking English!