UNIT SUMMARY

Comparatives and Superlatives with Adjectives

ADJECTIVES WITH ONE SYLLABLE OR WITH TWO SYLLABLES THAT END IN -Y Chicago is a big city. Chicago is bigger than Houston. New York is the biggest U.S. city. Madison, Wisconsin, is a happy U.S. city. Irvine, California, is happier than Madison. Plano, Texas, is the happiest U.S. city. ADJECTIVES WITH TWO OR MORE SYLLABLES Houston is a populated city. Chicago is more populated than Houston. New York is the most populated U.S. city.

Comparatives and Superlatives with Adverbs

ADVERBS WITH ONE SYLLABLE He walks fast. He walks faster than you do. I walk the fastest. -LY ADVERBS The population of Phoenix is increasing rapidly. The population of Austin is increasing more rapidly. The population of Seattle is increasing the most rapidly.

Comparisons with Less and Fewer

COUNT NOUNS Seattle has fewer people than Los Angeles. NONCOUNT NOUNS Los Angeles has less rain than Seattle.

Word Order in Comparison

BE + COMPARATIVE/SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVE Comparative Bradford Washburn was older than his wife. Mount Everest is more challenging than Denali. Superlative Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. The tallest mountain in the world is Mount Everest.

COMPARATIVE/SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVE + NOUN Comparative Bradford Washburn had more experience than his wife. Superlative New York City is the most populated state in the U.S.

VERB + COMPARATIVE/SUPERLATIVE ADVERB Comparative Some people say Americans laugh more frequently than people from other countries. Superlative We eat at this restaurant the most frequently.