Comparatives — “More ...”

A comparative expresses a difference by comparing two things: “A is ... than B.” The endings of adjectives and adverbs are changed to form it.

Basic Rules

There are three patterns for forming comparatives: ① Short words (one syllable and some two-syllable words) take -er (tall → taller, fast → faster). ② Long words (three or more syllables and many two-syllable adjectives) take more (beautiful → more beautiful, important → more important). ③ Irregular changes (good/well → better, bad → worse, many/much → more, little → less).
The comparison is introduced by “than”: “A is taller than B.”
Expressions that strengthen a comparative: much / a lot / far + comparative (“much ...”). Expressions that weaken it: a little / slightly + comparative (“a little ...”). “much taller” and “a little better.”

Points to Note

① How to add -er: normally +er (tall → taller), final e takes +r (large → larger), consonant + y changes y to i + er (happy → happier), and a short vowel + consonant doubles the consonant (big → bigger, hot → hotter).
② Choosing more / -er: decide by the number of syllables if unsure. One- or two-syllable words take -er, and words with three or more syllables take more. However, many two-syllable adjectives such as careful / useful / famous / popular / difficult take more.
③ Difference between much and very: very can be used only with the positive degree (very tall). To strengthen a comparative, use much / a lot / far (× very taller → ○ much taller).
④ When the comparison is a pronoun, use the subject form (the object form is also possible in spoken English): “He is taller than I (am). / He is taller than me.” ← At middle-school level, than I is grammatically more precise.

Practice

1. Write “This book is more interesting than that one” in English (using interesting).
2. Write “She plays the piano better than I do” in English (using well).
3. Correct the error: This problem is very harder than that one.