Comparison of adverbs in English
Grammatical constructions used for comparing adverbs
There are three forms of comparison:
- positive
- comparative
- superlative
1. Comparison with -er/-est
hard → harder → (the) hardest
We use -er/-est with the following adverbs:
1.1. all adverbs with one syllable
| positive | comparative | superlative |
|---|---|---|
| fast | faster | fastest |
| high | higher | highest |
1.2. the adverb early
| positive | comparative | superlative |
|---|---|---|
| early | earlier | earliest |
2. Comparison with more – most
adverbs ending on -ly (except: early)
| positive | comparative | superlative |
|---|---|---|
| carefully | more carefully | (the) most carefully |
3. Irregular adverbs
| positive | comparative | superlative |
|---|---|---|
| well | better | best |
| badly | worse | worst |
| much | more | most |
| little | less | least |
| far | farther | farthest |
| further | furthest |
ATTENTION!
In informal English some adverbs are used without -ly (e.g. cheap, loud, quick).
There are two forms of comparison possible, depending on the form of the adverb:
- cheaply → more cheaply → most cheaply
- cheap → cheaper → cheapest