Forming regular comparatives and superlatives

How these forms are created depends on how many syllables there are in the adjective. Syllables are like "sound beats". For instance, "sing" contains one syllable, but "singing" contains two -- sing and ing. Here are the rules:

Adjective form	Comparative	Superlative
Only one syllable, ending in E. Examples: wide, fine, cute	Add -R: wider, finer, cuter	Add -ST: widest, finest, cutest
Only one syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at the end. Examples: hot, big, fat	Double the consonant, and add -ER: hotter, bigger, fatter	Double the consonant, and add -EST: hottest, biggest, fattest
Only one syllable, with more than one vowel or more than one consonant at the end. Examples: light, neat, fast	Add -ER: lighter, neater, faster	Add -EST: lightest, neatest, fastest
Two syllables, ending in Y. Examples: happy, silly, lonely	Change Y to I, then add -ER: happier, sillier, lonelier	Change Y to I, then add -EST: happiest, silliest, loneliest
Two syllables or more, not ending in Y. Examples: modern, interesting, beautiful	Use MORE before the adjective: more modern, more interesting, more beautiful	Use MOST before the adjective: most modern, most interesting, most beautiful

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How to use comparatives and superlatives

Comparatives	Comparatives are used to compare two things. You can use sentences with THAN, or you can use a conjunction like BUT. Examples: Jiro is taller than Yukio. Yukio is tall, but Jiro is taller.
Superlatives	Superlatives are used to compare more than two things. Superlative sentences usually use THE, because there is only one superlative. Examples: Masami is the tallest in the class. Yukio is tall, and Jiro is taller, but Masami is the tallest.

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Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.

Active Form

In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.

[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]

Examples:

Passive Form

In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.

[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]

Examples:

Active / Passive Overview

	Active	Passive
Simple Present	Once a week, Tom cleans the house.	Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.
Present Continuous	Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.	Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.
Simple Past	Sam repaired the car.	The car was repaired by Sam.
Past Continuous	The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.	The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.
Present Perfect	Many tourists have visited that castle.	That castle has been visited by many tourists.
Present Perfect Continuous	Recently, John has been doing the work.	Recently, the work has been being done by John.
Past Perfect	George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.	Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license.
Past Perfect Continuous	Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.	The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.
Simple Future will	Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM.	The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
Simple Future be going to	Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight.
Future Continuous will	At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.
Future Continuous be going to	At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John.
Future Perfect will	They will have completed the project before the deadline.	The project will have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect be going to	They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.	The project is going to have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect Continuous will	The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Future Perfect Continuous be going to	The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Used to	Jerry used to pay the bills.	The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
Would Always	My mother would always make the pies.	The pies would always be made by my mother.
Future in the Past Would	I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM.	I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.
Future in the Past Was Going to	I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Sally tonight.

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Verb tenses are tools that English speakers use to express time in their language. You may find that many English tenses do not have direct translations in your language. That is not a problem. By studying this verb tense tutorial, you will learn to think like a native English speaker.

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