The Degrees of Comparison of Adverbs

 

 

 

The degrees of comparison of Adverbs:

 

Positive degree:

The simple form of the adverb without any comparison.

Example: She runs fast.

Comparative degree:

Used to compare two actions, showing a higher or lower degree of the adverb.

Example: She runs faster than him.

Superlative degree:

Used to compare one action to all others in a group, showing the highest or lowest degree of the adverb. Example: She runs (the) fastest in the team.

 

To form the comparative degree of most adverbs, add more before the adverb (e.g., more quickly).

For the superlative degree, add most before the adverb (e.g., most quickly).

 

However, some adverbs have irregular forms (e.g., well – better – best, badly – worse – worst), so it’s essential to be familiar with irregular adverbs as well.

 

 

The table containing all three forms (positive, comparative, and superlative) of the adverbs

Adverb	Positive Form	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
fast	fast	faster	fastest
hard	hard	harder	hardest
late	late	later	latest
soon	soon	sooner	soonest
early	early	earlier	earliest

 

Now, you have all three forms for each adverb, which will allow you to make comparisons in sentences effectively.

 

 

 

 

A table showing the comparison degrees of adverbs formed from adjectives by adding the -ly suffix.

We use more before the comparative form and most before the superlative form of these adverbs:

Adjective	Adverb (with -ly suffix)	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
quick	quickly	more quickly	most quickly
slow	slowly	more slowly	most slowly
careful	carefully	more carefully	most carefully
beautiful	beautifully	more beautifully	most beautifully
easy	easily	more easily	most easily
noisy	noisily	more noisily	most noisily
happy	happily	more happily	most happily
serious	seriously	more seriously	most seriously
quiet	quietly	more quietly	most quietly
angry	angrily	more angrily	most angrily

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the degrees of comparison for the adverbs often, quickly, and slowly:

Adverb	Positive Form	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
often	often	more often	most often
quickly	quickly	more quickly	most quickly
slowly	slowly	more slowly	most slowly

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the table with the degrees of comparison for the adverbs well, badly, much, little, and far:

Adverb	Positive Form	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
well	well	better	best
badly	badly	worse	worst
much	much	more	most
little	little	less	least
far	far	farther/further*	farthest/furthest*

 

Note: Farther and farthest are typically used when referring to physical distance, whereas further and furthest are more commonly used in non-physical contexts.

However, the distinction between these two forms is not strictly observed in all varieties of English, and they are often used interchangeably.

Now, you have all the forms for each adverb in a table, allowing you to compare actions or properties with varying degrees of intensity or quantity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

click here The Degrees of Comparison of Adverbs

click here The Forms of Adverbs

click here What is an Adverb?

click here Degrees of Comparison of the Adjectives