Comparative or Superlative?

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives — Comparatives: 2 things. Superlatives: 3+ things.

Comparative: To compare 2 things.

The boy is taller than the girl.
The girl is shorter than the boy.
The boy is older than the girl.
The girl has longer hair than the boy.

Click here to review comparative adjectives.

Superlative: To compare 3 or more things.

The brush on the left is the biggest.
The brush on the right is the smallest.

Click here to review superlative adjectives.

Now take the quiz to test your understanding of comparative and superlative adjectives:

Quiz: Comparative or Superlative?

Please wait while the activity loads.
If this activity does not load, try refreshing your browser. Also, this page requires javascript. Please visit using a browser with javascript enabled.

If loading fails, click here to try again

Choose the correct adjective to complete the sentence - comparative or superlative.

Start

Congratulations - you have completed Quiz: Comparative or Superlative?. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%. Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%%

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1

This job is pretty bad, but my last job was even __________.

A	more bad
B	worst
C	badder
D	worse

Question 1 Explanation:

"More bad" and "badder" do not exist

Question 2

Which is _____________: gold or silver?

A	expensiver
B	more expensive
C	as expensive
D	expensivest

Question 2 Explanation:

Note: "expensiver" and "expensivest" don't exist.

Question 3

Yesterday was a slow day at my company, but today was ______________.

A	more busy
B	busier
C	most busy
D	busiest

Question 3 Explanation:

We are comparing two things - yesterday and today - so we use the comparative.

Question 4

Playing games on Facebook is not __________ use of your time.

A	the good
B	the better
C	the best
D	as good

Question 4 Explanation:

We are comparing one thing (playing games) with all the other possible ways to spend time, so we use the superlative, "the best"

Question 5

My wife is ________ than I am.

A	more patient
B	patienter
C	most patient
D	patientest

Question 5 Explanation:

Note: "patienter" and "patientest" do not exist.

Question 6

I canceled my cell phone contract. I'm looking for a provider with __________ customer service.

A	as good as
B	more good
C	best
D	better

Question 6 Explanation:

We are comparing two things - my previous cell phone provider with my future cell phone provider - so we use the comparative, "better"

Question 7

February is ____________ month of the year.

A	less short
B	the shortest
C	the least short
D	shorter

Question 8

Let's go to the restaurant across the street. It looks ______________ than this one.

A	uncrowded
B	least crowded
C	less crowded
D	not crowded

Question 8 Explanation:

We are comparing two things: this restaurant, and the restaurant across the street - so we use the comparative "less crowded"

Question 9

That book wasn't ____________ I thought it'd be.

A	the most interesting
B	much interesting
C	more interesting
D	as interesting as

Question 9 Explanation:

We are comparing two things - my idea about the book, and the reality of the book - so we use the comparative. Because it's a negative sentence ("wasn't") - we use "as interesting as"

Question 10

______________ thing I've ever had to do was to tell my daughter that her puppy had died.

A	The more hard
B	The worst hard
C	The most hard
D	The hardest

Question 10 Explanation:

We are comparing this situation with all other situations in life, so we use the superlative.

Question 11

My son is getting __________ every year.

A	the most tall
B	taller
C	more tall
D	tallest

Question 11 Explanation:

We are comparing two things - how tall he was before and how tall he is after a year - so we use the comparative.

Question 12

The scandal involving the President is ______________ issue in the news today.

A	more controversial
B	the most controversial
C	very controversial
D	as controversial as

Question 12 Explanation:

We are comparing this issue with all the other issues in the news today - so we use the superlative.

Question 13

I'm ___________ man on the planet!

A	luckier
B	the more lucky
C	the luckiest
D	the most luckiest

Question 14

After he finished the test, he felt ____________.

A	most relaxed
B	relaxeder
C	least relaxed
D	more relaxed

Question 14 Explanation:

We are comparing two things - his feelings before the test and his feelings after the test. So "more relaxed" is correct. ("Relaxeder" does not exist)

Question 15

Running a marathon is ____________ than doing a triathlon.

A	less difficult
B	least difficult
C	not as difficult
D	the most difficult

Question 16

The problems weren't ____________ I'd imagined.

A	as worse as
B	as bad as
C	more bad
D	the worst

Question 17

This is ___________ book I've ever read. It doesn't help at all.

A	the more useful
B	the less useful
C	the least useful
D	the most useful

Question 17 Explanation:

We are comparing this book with all the other books I have read in my life - so "the least useful" (superlative) is correct.

Question 18

What's _________ mountain in the world?

A	the highest
B	the most high
C	as high as
D	higher

Question 19

This is the city's ______________ bar.

A	more popular
B	most popular
C	less popular
D	popularest

Question 19 Explanation:

We are comparing this bar with all the other bars in the city - so we use the superlative. ("Popularest" does not exist)

Question 20

What's __________ you've ever traveled?

A	farther than
B	as far as
C	the farthest
D	the most far

Once you are finished, click the button below. Any items you have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get Results

There are 20 questions to complete.

Master the details of English grammar:

Learn more about this course

Comparative or Superlative?

Click here to review comparative adjectives.

Superlative: To compare 3 or more things.

Click here to review superlative adjectives.

Quiz: Comparative or Superlative?

Master the details of English grammar:

You might also like...

10 Subject-Verb Agreement Errors in English

100 Verb-Preposition Combinations in English

50 Examples of the Passive Voice in English

Welcome!

Free E-Book: 500+ Real English Phrases