Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

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San José State University Writing Center 
www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter
  
Written by Annelisse Kennedy-Lewis
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives, Fall 2020.
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Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe, identify, or quantify nouns and pronouns. They help specify 
our writing by offering more details about nouns and pronouns. 
Comparative Adjectives
Comparative adjectives are used to compare two things—they help describe differences between 
two nouns.
Comparative Adjective Sentence Formula 
 
Comparative adjectives are generally used in the following sentence structure: 
Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object) 
Example Sentence 
My television + is + bigger + than + my computer. 
My television is bigger than my computer. 
In some cases, the sentence will end after the comparative adjective and not include the object of 
comparison. This structure is possible when the context has provided enough information to 
make the comparison clear.
Example Sentence 
My brother is 6 feet tall, but my father is taller. (“than my brother” is implied) 
Superlative Adjectives 
Superlative adjectives are used to compare three or more things. They help describe things on 
either end of a spectrum (e.g., smallest and largest, tallest and shortest).
Superlative Adjective Sentence Formula 
Superlative adjectives are generally used in the following sentence structure: 
Noun (subject) + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun (object) 

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Comparative and Superlative Adjectives, Fall 2020.
2 of 5 
Example Sentence 
My English professor + is + the + smartest + person. 
My English professor is the smartest person. 
Just like comparative adjectives, the object of comparison can sometimes be left out. 
Example Sentence 
 
We took an exam in class today, and I scored the highest. (“in the class” is implied)