Comparative Degree
Choose the comparative form according to the word and established usage rather than applying one suffix rule to everything. A comparative often appears with a “than” phrase, but the comparison can also be understood from context.
The comparative degree expresses a higher or lower degree of a quality when people or things are compared, commonly with “-er” or “more/less”: “smaller,” “more useful,” “less expensive.” Irregular forms such as “better” must be learned separately.
Key details
Important caveats
Boundary
Avoid double comparatives such as “more easier.” Also avoid forcing “-er” onto adjectives whose established comparative uses “more.”
Further guidance
Comparison Target
Make the comparison logically clear. A “than” phrase can state the standard explicitly, as in “faster than the old system.”
Formation
Many short adjectives take “-er”; many longer adjectives use “more” or “less”; irregular patterns include forms such as “better” and “worse.”
Worked Example
“This draft is clearer than the first” uses “clearer” as the comparative degree. “This approach is more practical” uses “more” because that is the normal comparative pattern for “practical.”
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Comparison: adjectives (bigger, biggest, more interesting) (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Explains comparative meaning, -er and more/less formation, irregular forms, than-complements and common errors.
- Collaborative Textbook on English Syntax — Word Categories (opens in a new tab)CUNY Pressbooks · Explicitly identifies the basic adjective form that expresses a quality as the positive degree and distinguishes it from comparative and superlative degree, while noting that not all adjectives are gradable.