CEFR B1 · 5 min
People always ask me: ‘Which do you prefer — Sydney or Réunion?’ My honest answer is that they are not comparable in the way the question assumes. Sydney is bigger, louder, faster. Réunion is greener, quieter, and the sky is more extraordinary. Comparison is not about better — it is about different. English gives you the grammar to say exactly that.
Today's focus: Comparatives (-er/more) and superlatives (-est/most); as…as; intensifiers
Short adjectives (1 syllable): add -er/-est: big → bigger → the biggest
Long adjectives (3+ syllables): more/most: beautiful → more beautiful → the most beautiful
Exceptions: good → better → the best | bad → worse → the worst | far → further → the furthest
Equality: as + adjective + as: ‘Réunion is as beautiful as any island I’ve seen.’
Intensifiers: much, far, slightly, a little before comparatives: ‘far busier’ · ‘slightly warmer’
Examples in context
Try it — click to reveal the answer
▶ Comparative of ‘expensive’: (a) expensiver (b) more expensive (c) most expensive
Rule of thumb: if you struggle to say it with -er (expensiver sounds wrong), use ‘more’.
▶ Fill: ‘Réunion is ___ busy ___ Paris.’ (use as…as)
For negative comparison: ‘not as [adj] as.’ For equality: ‘just as [adj] as.’
▶ Which intensifier fits? ‘Réunion is ___ warmer than France in December.’ (much / a bit)
‘Much’ and ‘far’ signal large differences. ‘A bit’, ‘slightly’, ‘a little’ signal small ones.
Short adjective → -er than. Long adjective → more… than. Exceptions to memorise: better, worse, further. Intensify with much/far (big gap) or slightly/a bit (small gap).
Independent project; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification. Cambridge CELTA course completed — 120 supervised teaching hours and four written assignments validated to the required standard.