Forming Comparative and Superlative Adverbs
LY Adverbs
With LY adverbs (adverbs formed from adjectives by adding -ly to the end) we form the comparative and superlative forms with more and most.
| Adjective | Adverb | Comparative Adverb | Superlative Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|
| quiet | quietly | more quietly | most quietly |
| careful | carefully | more carefully | most carefully |
| happy | happily | more happily | most happily |
- Jeff works more quietly than Steve does.
- Jeff works the most quietly of all the students.
- Mary drives more carefully than John does.
- Of the three drivers, Mary drives the most carefully.
- Steve works more happily than he used to.
- Mary sings the most happily of all the girls in the group.
Other Adverbs
For adverbs which retain the same form as the adjective form, we add -er to form the comparative and -est to form the superlative.
| Adjective | Adverb | Comparative Adverb | Superlative Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|
| hard | hard | harder | hardest |
| fast | fast | faster | fastest |
| early | early | earlier | earliest |
- Please work harder.
- Steve works the hardest.
- Mary runs faster than John does.
- Mary runs the fastest of all the runners on the team.
- Steve gets to work earlier than I do.
- Steve gets to work the earliest of all.
Irregular Adverbs
| Adjective | Adverb | Comparative Adverb | Superlative Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|
| good | well | better | best |
| bad | badly | worse | worst |
| far | far | farther/further | farthest/furthest |
- John plays tennis better than Jack does.
- On our tennis team, John plays tennis the best.
- I did worse on the test than Bart did.
- On that test, I did the worst in the class.
- My paper airplane flew farther than yours did.
- My paper airplane flew the farthest of all.
Test your knowledge
Directions: Choose the best answer. (10 problems)