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Two-syllable adjectives in English. Adjectives in English

In English there are 3 degrees of comparison of adjectives: the positive degree, the comparative degree and the superlative degree.

Please note that the adjective comes before the noun and does not change in gender or number.

Positive degree adjective means that it is in its initial form and simply denotes the quality of an object, without comparing it with others: tall, old, long, big, thin, fat ). Education comparative And excellent degrees comparison depends on how many syllables the adjective contains.

Here are a few rules for forming degrees of comparison of adjectives in English with example sentences.

Monosyllabic adjectives add a suffix -er comparative degree and suffix -est superlative:

tall - taller - the tallest (high - higher - the highest)
old - older - the oldest (old - older, older - the oldest, the oldest)
long - longer - the longest (long - longer - the longest)

Here are some examples:

Katie is taller than Rob. - Katie is taller than Rob.
Katie is the tallest of all my friends. - Katie is the tallest of my friends.
Rob is older than John. - Rob is older than John.
Of the three students, Rob is the oldest. - Rob is the oldest of three students.
My hair is longer than your hair. - My hair is longer than yours.
Rob's story is the longest story I've ever heard. - Rob's story is the longest I've ever heard.

If a one-syllable adjective ends in a consonant preceded by a vowel, the consonant is doubled:

big - bigger - the biggest (big - bigger - the biggest)
thin - thinner - the thinnest (thin - thinner - the thinnest)
fat - fatter - the fattest (full - fuller - the most complete)

Examples:

My house is bigger than your house. - My house is bigger than your house.
My house is the biggest of all the houses in the neighborhood. - My house is the largest of all in the area.
Rob is thinner than John. - Rob is thinner than John.
Of all the students in the class, Rob is the thinnest. - Rob is the skinniest of all the students in the class.
My dog is fatter than your dog. - My dog is fatter than your dog.

Two-syllable adjectives form the comparative degree of comparison by adding more before adjectives, and the superlative degree, adding most:

peaceful - more peaceful - the most peaceful (calm, peaceful - calmer - the calmest)
pleasant - more pleasant - the most pleasant (pleasant - more pleasant - the most pleasant)
careful - more careful - the most careful (careful - more careful - the most careful)

Example sentences:

This morning is more peaceful than yesterday morning. - This morning is more peaceful than yesterday.
John is more careful than Mike. - John is more careful than Mike.
This evening is the most pleasant I"ve ever had. - This evening is the most pleasant of all that I have had.

If a two-syllable adjective ends in -y, then to form a comparative degree you need to change -y on -i and add a suffix -er, and to form a superlative degree - the suffix -est:

happy - happier - the happiest (happy - happier - the happiest)
angry - angrier - the angriest (angry - angrier - the angriest)
busy - busier - the busiest (busy - busier - the busiest)

Example phrases:

Robert is happier today than he was yesterday. - Today Robert is happier than yesterday.
He is the happiest boy in the world. - He is the happiest boy in the world.
John is angrier than Rob. - John is angrier than Rob.
Katie is busier than John. - Katie is busier than John.
Katie is the busiest person I've ever met. - Katie is the busiest person I've ever met.

Two-syllable adjectives ending in -er, -le, -ow form comparative and superlative degrees of comparison by adding suffixes -er And -est respectively.

narrow - narrower - the narrowest (narrow - already - the narrowest)
gentle - gentler - the gentlest (noble - nobler - the most noble)

Examples:

The streets in European countries are narrower than the streets in Russia. - The streets of European cities are narrower than in Russia.
This street is the narrowest of all the roads in this town. - This street is the narrowest in this city.
Big dogs are gentler than small dogs. - Big dogs are nobler than small ones.

An interesting English-language video about typical mistakes when using comparative degrees of adjectives (and a bonus - about adverbs!):

For adjectives of three syllables, the comparative and superlative degrees are formed by adding more And most before an adjective.

generous - more generous - the most generous (generous - more generous - the most generous)
important - more important - the most important (important - more important - the most important)
intelligent - more intelligent - the most intelligent (smart - smarter - the smartest)

Example sentences:

Katie is more generous than Mary. - Katie is more generous than Mary.
John is the most generous of all the people I know. - John is the most generous person I know.
Health is more important than money. - Health is more important than money.
Katie is the most intelligent person I"ve ever met. - Katie is the smartest person I know.

Exceptional adjectives that have their own comparative and superlative form:

Good - better - the best (good - better - the best)
Bad - worse - the worst (bad - worse - the worst)
Far - farther - the farthest (far - further - the farthest)
Little - less - the least (small - less - the smallest)
Many - more - the most (many - more - most of all)

Examples of phrases with exceptions:

Italian food is better than American food. - Italian food is better than American food.
My dog is the best dog in the world. - My dog is the best in the world.
My sister"s cooking is worse than your sister"s cooking. - My sister cooks worse than yours.

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Among the independent parts of speech of both Russian and English languages, the adjective occupies a special place. Adjectives in English have a lot of features and unique features, some of which are similar to Russian lexical composition and grammatical norms, and some exceptions are special and used exclusively in English. That is why it is necessary to consider in detail what types of adjectives are found in the English language, what properties they have, and also to determine the typical features of this part of speech that are unique to it.

Main characteristics of adjectives

An adjective in English, or adjective, differs from nouns in that it does not reflect an object or phenomenon, but its attribute or quality. This means that for English adjectives in translation the following questions are always relevant: what? which? which? or what?

As for the morphological categories of adjectives in the English language, there are much fewer possibilities compared to a noun. For example, the categories of gender and number are absolutely not expressed in adjectives. If you translate such a word into Russian, the ending will change along with the translation. At the same time, such words with transcription and translation do not differ in any features, and the forms remain unchanged. Eg:

I saw a beautiful girl – I saw a beautiful girl
We told about a beautiful girl - We talked about a beautiful girl
I gifted a present to beautiful girl girls – I gave a gift to beautiful girls

As can be seen from the examples presented, in Russian adjectives the ending changes in accordance with number and cases, but English adjectives do not have such changes. They do not differ in any special pronunciation. However, these parts of speech still have their own special characteristics: they are always associated with nouns (or pronouns) and describe precisely these words. Therefore, one or another noun is often preceded by an adjective and an article to describe any special properties: origin, color, material, size, etc.

Speaking about the syntactic role of English adjectives, it can be noted that they, as a rule, serve as a definition in a sentence.

Structure of English adjectives

In addition to dividing into semantic groups, there is also a classification of English adjectives according to the type of their structure. This includes both one- and two-syllable words, as well as structures with a large number of syllables. So, the rule implies the presence of the following types:

· Simple adjectives. Examples of such adjectives are found quite often in the language. They do not have any derivational morphemes and have one syllable: good (good), green (green), dull (boring), rude (rude), etc.

· Derivatives. These words usually have some kind of word-forming morphemes (usually either prefixes or suffixes). For example: careful (cautious), waterless (waterless), important (important), dishonest (dishonest), etc.

· Polysyllabic adjectives that are often called compound adjectives in English. Their main feature is that they consist of two or more grammatical stems, thereby forming a completely new word. Compound adjectives are completely different from a monosyllabic adjective and quite often create new semantic constructions. Here are examples of such derived adjectives: smoke-dried (smoked), four-wheeled (four-wheeled), deaf-mute (deaf-mute), snow-white (heartless), etc.

Thus, you can see that everything, even complex adjectives in English, are formed quite standardly, and the principles of formation are in many ways reminiscent of the methods of forming nouns.

Types of adjectives by meaning

The list of classifications includes one more category - division into:

quality
relative adjectives

These types of adjectives have quite a significant difference, and each of them has its own specific rules.

So, qualitative adjectives are called for a reason. The fact is that such adjectives reflect precisely the quality of an object or phenomenon: color, size, etc.: black, big, strong, etc. With these types of adjectives we almost always use degrees of comparison (there are also some irregular adjectives, however, they are a minority).

Relative adjectives are designed to show the relationship of a word to its origin and reflect material, nationality, time frame, etc.: Russian, gold, daily, etc.

Evaluation structures

Quite often in the language there are evaluative adjectives that show a certain property of a noun or pronoun in the context of subjective evaluation. In this case, this group can be divided into:

positive adjectives(positive)
negative adjectives(negative)

Positive words are words such as good, interesting, amazing, wonderful, etc. Negative in relation to positive are opposite adjectives; these are the structures bad, unpleasant, boring, ugly, etc.

Adjectives with special endings and prepositions

Some constructions showing the quality or property of an object or phenomenon differ only in the ending; The most popular varieties belonging to this group are adjectives with –ed or –ing endings. The first option shows a state or feeling and is often translated by the participle:

· I’m interested in this job - I’m interested in this job
· Out daughter is excited about her future travelling – Our daughter is excited about the upcoming trip

The second option with –ing shows the quality or characteristic of a particular phenomenon and is a standard descriptive word. For example:

· This job is very interesting – This job is very interesting
· Our travel is long and exciting – Our journey is long and exciting

Any table with the difference between these types of words also gives other variants of pairs: exhausted (tired) - exhausting (tiring), humiliated (humiliated) - humiliating (humiliating), etc.

In addition, some adjectives are often accompanied by prepositions. Thus, typical adjectives with prepositions, which are almost always used with prepositions, are afraid (of), ashamed (of), ashamed, careless (about), disappointed (with), etc.

Additional groups of adjectives

There are additional classifications that are also worth considering. For example, possessive adjectives in English reflect belonging to some object. They completely repeat possessive pronouns (my, his, our), but are called possessive adjectives.

The so-called strong adjectives differ from weak ones in that they are able to convey a particular meaning independently, without adding the popular adverb very. For example: delicious (very tasty, strong word) = very tasty (very tasty, weak word), tiny (tiny, strong word) = very small (very small, weak word), etc.

Typical English demonstrative adjectives are those that point to an object; at the same time, they also have a difference in numbers: this – these (this), that – those (that – those).

Based on the foregoing, it can be noted that the part of speech under consideration has quite a lot of special features and classifications. It is important to navigate all these nuances in order to use adjectives in speech most appropriately and correctly and not confuse them with other grammatical structures, as such difficulties may arise.

the Adjective

Before memorizing a colossal number of adjectives, you need to figure out: how adjectives are formed, what they are degrees of adjectives in English, and also know the word order. All this knowledge will help you use English adjectives correctly. Now let's find out what an adjective is.

Definition:

An adjective is a part of speech that denotes an attribute of an object and answers a question Which?What?

Example: beautiful - beautiful, blue - blue, unpredictable - unpredictable.

Formation of English adjectives:

Like noun in English, adjectives can be divided into groups:

1) Simple (simple) - adjectives that have neither prefixes nor suffixes.

Example: long - long, tall - high, red - red

2) Derivatives (derived) - adjectives that have prefixes and suffixes, or both a prefix and a suffix

Example: wonderful - wonderful, invisible - invisible, unusual - unusual

3) Composite (compound) - adjectives that are formed from two words

Example: black-white - black and white, cold-hearted - heartless, well-known - known

Derivative adjectives can be formed in several ways:

a) Suffix formation. Adjective suffixes include:

Able -unpredictable- unpredictable

Ful - beautiful - wonderful

Al - criminal - criminal

Ed - smoked

Ary - documentary

En- wooden- wooden

Ic- optimistic - optimistic

Ive- intensive- intense

Less- hopeless - hopeless (the suffix -less denotes a lack of something)

Like- womanlike - feminine

Most- uttermost - most distant

Ly- lonely - lonely

Ous- humorous - humorous

Some- troublesome- restless

Y- doggy - doggy, stylish, fashionable

Id- morbid- painful

Ish-reddish-reddish

Fold- threefold - triple

Que- picturesque- picturesque

Ory- observatory - observant

b) Add-on method. Almost all prefixes that are added to adjectives have a negative meaning:

Un- uncomfortable - uncomfortable

Dis- dishonest - dishonest

Im- impractical- impractical

Ir-irregular-irregular

Il- illegal- illegal

In - inhuman - inhuman, merciless

There are also prefixes that do not have a negative meaning:

Pre- pre-arranged - planned

Hyper-hyperactive - hyperactive

Word order: adjective plus noun

Sometimes we use two or more adjectives together. For example:

There is a small, brown, round table in the room - there is a small, brown, round table in the room.

In this sentence, the English adjectives small, brown, round are factual adjectives that give objective information about the size, color, shape of an object.

The word order is as follows:

Example: The big, old, round, brown, German, wooden wardrobe.

Degrees of comparison of adjectives in English

Adjective in English has three forms of degree of comparison:

Superlative degree

Let's look at examples:

* Positive degree of comparison - this is the initial form of the adjective (big, wonderful)

* Comparative degree formed from the initial form of the adjective in one of the following ways:

1) For one-syllable adjectives

Definition: monosyllabic adjectives - adjectives consisting of one syllable. Example:big

To form the comparative degree for monosyllabic adjectives, you need to add the suffix - er to the initial form of the adjective.

2) For two-syllable adjectives

Definition: Disyllabic adjectives have two syllables.

Example:clever

* Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y, -er, -ow, -ble , form

comparative degree by adding to the initial form of the adjective

suffix - er.

3) Other two-syllable adjectives and adjectives with three or more syllables form the comparative degree by adding to the initial form of the adjective

- more

* Superlative degree

1) For one- and two-syllable adjectives ending in

(-y, -er, -ow, -ble).

To form the superlative degree, the suffix - est is added to the initial form of the adjective.

2) For other two-syllable adjectives and adjectives with three or more syllables

the most is added to them

We have looked at examples of the formation of degrees of comparison of adjectives, but we must not forget that there are exceptions. Let's look at the table:

	Comparative degree	Superlative degree




		the farthest/the furthest
		the oldest/eldest

You need to know these exceptions by heart.

Now let's take a closer look:

1) - farther and further are used to indicate distance:

Example: Parisis ten miles farther/further-ParisVtenmilesfurther.

Also to indicate further, additional

Example: There was no further instruction

2) elder/eldest used before nouns, namely family members:

Example:Myeldersister - my older sister.He is the eldest child in the family. He is the eldest child in the family.

3) The value less corresponds to:

Less - when the value less is a comparative degree of few:

Example:Ihavelesstimethanshe- I have less time than her

Smaller - in the meaning of comparative degree from small :

Example: My car is smaller than hers- Minecarless, howher

4) The value is more consistent with:

More- is the comparative degree of a lot of:

Example:Ihavemoretimethanshe- I have more time than she does

Bigger or larger are comparative degrees of big:

Example: My car is larger than hers- Minecarmore, howher.

5) For the meaning of a smaller and lowest degree of quality compared to other items, it is used less- less, theleast- least :

Example: interesting- less interesting- the least interesting

interesting - less interesting - least interesting

Designs for comparison

To compare two objects or persons, use:

1). Design as...as - the same...as, just...as

Example:Sheisbeautifulasmymother- She is as beautiful as my mother.

In negative sentences, the first as is replaced by so. It turns out so...as

Example:Yourcarisnotsooldashers- Your car is not as old as hers.

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Hey, everyone! Today we will discuss English adjectives, or more precisely: their role and order in a sentence, types, structure, formation, characteristic suffixes and prefixes, degrees of comparison and the use of articles with them. You need this! C"mon!

Adjective(adjective) is one of the main parts of speech, which denotes the attribute of an object and answers the questions “ Which?», « whose?».

An adjective is used with a noun to show its special attribute, property and to give additional characteristics of a different nature. It is thanks to adjectives that our speech becomes diverse and emotionally rich.

Unlike adjectives in Russian, in English they do not change neither by gender, nor by case, nor even by number.

We just take an adjective and put any noun after it. Easy!

smart cat - smart cat;
cute kids - cute children;
hot stuff is hot stuff.

Order of adjectives in an English sentence

Adjective in definition functions stands before the noun it refers to, and in functions of the nominal part compound predicate - after a linking verb:

I have bought a black cat. - I bought a black cat (definition).
This cat is black. - This cat black(predicative).

If adjectives two or more, then they must be used in a certain order.

First There will be adjectives showing the speaker’s attitude (opinion) to the subject: handsome (attractive), ugly (ugly), luxurious (luxurious).

Second adjectives are used that describe the parameters of an object (size, characteristics, age, shape, color): black (black), old (old), huge (huge).

A before a noun usually purpose: kitchen (kitchen), throwing (throwing), educative (educational).

Order of adjectives in a sentence

Article/Determiner	a	some	my
Opinion	lovely (amazing)	stunning (stunning)	reasonably priced (inexpensive)
Size	big (big)	small (small)	-
Quality (status characteristic)	well made (artfully executed)	artful (skillfully executed)	boiling (boiling)
Age	new (new)	old (old)	-
Form	rectangular (rectangular)	square (square)	-
Color	black	-	red (red)
Origin (a country)	American (American)	english (English)	Ukrainian (Ukrainian)
Material (substance)	steel (steel)	oil (oil)	-
Purpose	throwing (propelling)	ceiling (ceiling)	Halloween (Halloween)
Noun	knife (knife)	paintings (paintings)	meal (dish)

She has fascinating long hair. - She has charming long hair.
Take that small black metal box. - Take that one small black metal box.
It was a modern wooden dinner table. - It was modern wooden dining room table.
I've bought a new steel carving knife. - I bought new steel cutting knife.
I've bought some expensive square fragile china plates. - I bought several expensive square fragile porcelain plates.

Adjectives, showing measure(deep - depth, high - height, long - length, wide - width, etc.), are placed after the noun being defined.

The highway is 10 kilometers long. - This route is 10 kilometers length.
This lake isn’t big, but it is 30 meters deep. - This lake is small, but depth 30 meters.

Formation of adjectives in English

There are adjectives simple, derivatives and complex(composite).

Simple adjectives have neither prefixes nor suffixes (big, short, black, red).
Derivatives include suffixes or prefixes, or both at the same time (natur al, in correct, un natur al).
Complex(composite) adjectives are formed from two words denoting one concept: dark blue,red-cheeked, snow-white.

Suffixes, prefixes and endings of adjectives

Most famous suffixes adjectives are:

«- less": help less helpless, use less useless;
«- able,« -ible": suit able(suitable), access ible accessible;
«- ous":fam ous famous, danger ous dangerous;
«- ful": use ful useful, care ful(attentive);
«- ent": intelligent ent(smart); preval ent(common)
«- ary": element ary(elementary);
«- ive": aggression ive(aggressive);
«- al": form al formal, center al central;
«- ic": hero ic(heroic);
«- y": sno wy(snow).

The most famous adjective prefixes include:

« un-»: un happy (unhappy), un equal (unequal);
« in-»: in complete (incomplete), in different (indifferent);
« im-»: im polite (impolite), im puberal (immature).

In English there is a list of adjectives that can be used and with suffixes, and with the words “ more/most», « less/least».

able(capable);
angry(wicked);
clever(smart);
common(general);
cruel(cruel);
friendly(friendly);
gentle(gentle);
handsome(Beautiful);
narrow(narrow);
pleasant(nice);
polite(polite);
quiet(quiet);
serious(serious);
simple(simple);
sour(sour).

Types of adjectives in English

According to their meaning, English adjectives are:

Quality(big - big, small - small, clever - smart).
Relative(wooden - wooden, central - central), etc.

Relative adjectives of the English language do not have degrees of comparison, but qualitative adjectives have the following degrees of comparison: positive, comparative and superlative.

Degrees of comparison of adjectives

Qualitative adjectives and adverbs of manner of action in English, as well as in Russian, have three degrees of comparison:

absolute,
comparative
superlative.

So, with absolute everything is clear in form: long, far, good, active, expensive etc.

Comparative form an adjective is used when comparing two or more objects or people.

A comparative adjective can be formed in two ways:

adding a suffix«- er» to the absolute form of the adjective . This applies to one-syllable adjectives (long) and two-syllable adjectives with a “y” at the end (pretty).

This is a long er book.
This doll is pretty ier.

Features of education:

- in words ending with " e", is added " r" at the end (lam e-lame r);
- in words with one vowel and one consonant at the end doubles consonant and add “- er" (b ig- bi gger);
- in words with more than one vowel or with more than one consonant at the end, add “- er" at the end (ha rd- hard er).

adding « more» before an adjective. This applies to two-syllable adjectives without a “y” at the end (charming) and adjectives with three or more syllables (powerful).

She is more charming than her friend.
This gun is more powerful than that one.

Features of education:

When comparing two objects (people), the word " than» located between adjective and subject of comparison.

Oranges are sweeter than grapefruits
This painting is more interesting than that painting.

Superlative used to show that a thing or person has the greatest amount of a particular quality (in a group or of its kind). Commonly used with article« the».

It can also be formed in two ways.

adding «- est» to absolute form. This applies to one-syllable adjectives (big) and two-syllable adjectives ending in “y” (lucky).

This is the bigg est table in the room.
I"m the luck iest person in the company.

Features of education:

- in words, h ending with " e", the suffix "-" is added st"at the end (large - the large st);
- in words with one vowel and one consonant at the end, the consonant is doubled and “-” is added est" (big-bi ggest);
- in words with more than one vowel or with more than one consonant at the end, add “- est" (blue - blu est);
- in words ending with " y", it is replaced by " i" with addition "- est"(pretty - prettiest).

adding « the most» before an adjective. Applies to two-syllable adjectives with a "y" at the end, as well as adjectives with three syllables or more.

This is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen.
This is the most popular song on the list.
That was the most powerful weapon.

Note: Comparative and superlative adjectives come before all others.

I'd like to buy this more beautiful white rose. - I would like to buy this more beautiful white rose.
At the ceremony there were some of the best young French actresses. - Several of the best young French actresses were present at the ceremony.

Positive form of adjective

The positive form is used when no difference between two things or people being compared.

To form a positive we use " as"before and after the absolute form of the adjective.

Danny is as smart as Phillip.
She is as beautiful as her older sister.

This can also be applied in a negative context by adding the word " not» before first « as" This way we indicate that the objects being compared not alike.

Danny is not as smart as Phillip.
She is not as beautiful as her older sister.

Exceptional adjectives

The following adjectives, degrees of comparison of which are not formed according to the general rule, and their forms should be known by heart.

good- better- the best(good - better - best);
bad - worse- the worst(bad - worse - worst);
little- less- the least(small - smaller - smallest);
many/much - more- the most(many - more - greatest);
old- older- the oldest(old - older - oldest);
old- elder-the eldest(old - older - the eldest) - about family members;
late- later- the latest/last(late - later - last/latest in time);
late- the latter- the last(late - the second of the two listed - the last in order);
near- nearer - the nearest(close - closer - closest in distance);
near- nearer- next/the next(closer - closer - next in time/next in order);
far- farther- the farthest(distant - more distant - farthest);
far- further- the furthest(distant, distant - further - further/additional).

Using the article with adjectives

A noun with a definition expressed by an adjective in the superlative degree is used with a definite article if the meaning does not require any pronoun.

London is the largest city in the UK.
My best friend lives in Seattle.

The definite article is retained before the superlative even when the noun is not mentioned (i.e. the noun is implied).

The London underground is the most beautiful in the world.

An English sentence, two parts of which (separated by a comma) begin with an adjective or adverb in the comparative degree with a definite article in front of it, is translated into Russian using the conjunctions “ how …, those … »:

The more we suffer the stronger we get.

Note: In English we can make nouns out of adjectives. To do this we need to add definite article « the" before the adjective, and we get the word in plural number.

All the doctors examined the sick. - All the doctors examined sick.
He is always used to help the poor. - He always helped before poor.
The rich also cry. - Rich they cry too.

Adjectives ending in "-" sh» «- ch"(English, French), turning into nouns, are used with a plural meaning to denote the nation as a whole.

In this case, they are preceded by a definite article: the French (French), the English (English), the Dutch (Dutch), the Spanish (Spaniards).

Conclusion

We hope that the topic of adjectives is now more than clear to you. To reinforce the material, we suggest you try our simulator on adjectives and degrees of comparison.

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Degrees of comparison of adjectives in English are one of the simplest grammatical topics. The reason is that the existing degrees of comparison and methods of their formation largely coincide with those in the Russian language. As in Russian, in English there are two degrees of comparison: comparative And excellent. According to another classification, there is also a positive one - this is the usual form of adjectives. Comparative forms in English

There are two ways to form degrees of comparison: analytical(adding words) and synthetic(adding suffixes). The choice of the desired method of formation depends on the adjectives themselves:

for a monosyllabic (simple) - we use a synthetic method of formation
for polysyllabic - the analytical method.

Let's look at all this in detail, giving examples.

Monosyllabic adjectives and a synthetic method for comparing them

Almost all simple adjectives in English form comparatives using suffixes:
table of adjective degrees There are several cases where adding suffixes requires minor changes to the word itself:

If in a monosyllabic adjective there is a short vowel sound before the final consonant, then we double it:
- Big - bigger - the biggest
The final silent -e goes before -er, -est:
- Nice - nicer - the nicest
The final letter -y is replaced by -i, provided that the -y is preceded by a consonant:
- Dry - drier - the dries

If there is a vowel before -y in a word, there will be no substitutions:

Gray - greyer - the greyest

Let's summarize.
In the following figure you will see an extremely simple scheme for the formation of degrees of comparison of simple adjectives in English. degrees of comparison of simple adjectives in English

There are no rules that have no exceptions

There is a small list of exceptions to the general rule: these words completely change their roots:
list of exceptions There is another type of exception, which is a small list of words that have two possible options for forming degrees, each of which has its own semantic characteristics. You need to know them for correct use in context:
Adjectives with two possible options for forming degrees As for two-syllable adjectives, some of them form their comparative forms as monosyllabic ones - by adding - er And - est. These include those that

End with:
- -ow:
narrow - narrower - the narrowest
- -le:
simple - simpler - the simplest
- -er:
tender - tenderer - the tenderest
happy - happier - the happiest
They have two syllables and the stress falls on the second:
severe - severer - the severest
Three-syllable adjectives with a prefix -un
untidy - untidier - the untidiest

Polysyllabic adjectives and the analytical method for comparing them

Now the time has come to understand the analytical method of forming comparative degrees in the English language. This method involves changing the meaning of a word without any changes in itself, but by adding another word to it, which will change its semantic and grammatical characteristics.

An adverb is added more(more) if we compare the qualities of two objects, one of which is superior to the other:
Anya is more obedient than Katya
Adverb most(most) is used when indicating the highest level of qualitative characteristics of an item:
Anya is the most obedient

You may be wondering why not all adjectives in English follow the same form of degree formation. The fact is that adding suffixes to already long words is completely inconvenient, since they will lengthen them even more.
Polysyllabic adjectives To reinforce the material, watch the following videos: