COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE ADVERBS

Many adverbs can have three different forms, the positive, the comparative, and the superlative:

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
loudly	more loudly	most loudly
fast	faster	fastest
well	better	best

The comparative form is used for comparing two actions or states:

She ate her lunch more quickly than Joe (did).

Can’t we go any faster?

The company performed better this year (than last year).

I made my cough sound worse than it actually was.

The superlative is used for comparing one action or state with all the others in the same category:

The first stage of a divorce passes the most quickly.

We need people who are determined, not just those who can run the fastest.

He’s playing the kind of role that suits him best.

Worst of all, we didn’t have the rights to our own films.

Note that it’s not possible to have comparatives or superlatives of certain adverbs, especially those of time (e.g. yesterday, daily, then), place (e.g. here, up, down), and degree (e.g. very, really, almost).

Forming comparative and superlative adverbs

There are three ways in which the comparative and superlative of adverbs are formed, depending on the spelling of the base adverb:

Adverbs ending in -ly

Add the word more to make the comparative, and the word most to make the superlative:

adverb	comparative	superlative
slowly	more slowly	most slowly
happily	more happily	most happily

Adverbs with the same form as an adjective

These form their comparatives and superlatives by adding the endings -er and -est. If the adverb ends in -y, then you change the y to an i before adding -er or -est; if the adverb has one syllable and ends in -e, then you just add the ending -r or -st:

The most common adverbs of this type are:

early	earlier	earliest
fast	faster	fastest
hard	harder	hardest
high	higher	highest
late	later	latest
long	longer	longest
low	lower	lowest
near	nearer	nearest
soon	sooner	soonest

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

Some common adverbs have irregular comparatives and superlatives that you just have to learn. Most dictionaries will also give these spellings if you’re not sure:

badly	worse	worst
well	better	best
little	less	least
much	more	most
far	farther (or further)	farthest (or furthest)

Adverb	Comparative	Superlative
quietly	more quietly	most quietly
slowly	more slowly	most slowly
seriously	more seriously	most seriously

EXAMPLES

• The teacher spoke more slowly to help us to understand.
• Could you sing more quietly please?

With short adverbs that do not end in -ly comparative and superlative forms are identical to adjectives: add -er to form the comparative and -est to form the superlative. If the adverb ends in e, remove it before adding the ending.

Adverb	Comparative	Superlative
hard	harder	hardest
fast	faster	fastest
late	later	latest

EXAMPLES

• Jim works harder than his brother.
• Everyone in the race ran fast, but John ran the fastest of all.

Some adverbs have irregular comparative and superlative forms.

Adverb	Comparative	Superlative
badly	worse	worst
far	farther/further	farthest/furthest
little	less	least
well	better	best

EXAMPLES

• The little boy ran farther than his friends.
• You're driving worse today than yesterday !
• He played the best of any player.