Kinds of Adverbs; Degrees of Comparison
Short adverbs of one syllable add -er and -est to form their comparative and superlative forms.
The following table will guide you in changing the forms of adverbs:
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| hard | harder | hardest |
| high | higher | highest |
| fast | faster | fastest |
| late | later | latest/last |
Note that almost all adverbs which are also used as adjectives belong to this class. Therefore, you must be very careful in identifying whether the word is an adverb or an adjective.
Adverbs which end in -ly take more and less for the comparative and most and least for the superlative as given below:
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| softly | more softly | most softly |
| happily | more happily | most happily |
| swiftly | less swiftly | least swiftly |
| ably | more ably | most ably |
The adverb early is an exception. Its degrees of comparison are early, earlier, and earliest.
Some adverbs form their comparative and superlative degrees in an irregular manner as given below:
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| badly/ill | worse | worst |
| little | less | least |
| much | more | most |
| well | better | best |