Comparative Adjectives vs Comparative Adverbs
Learn the difference between comparative adjectives and comparative adverbs in English, comparing things versus how actions are done, at A2 level.
What are comparative adjectives and adverbs?
We use comparatives to compare two people, things, or actions.
- Comparative adjectives describe people or things: big → bigger.
- Comparative adverbs describe how people do things: fast → faster.
Examples
- This is a faster car than that one. (comparative adjective → describes a car)
- She runs faster than me. (comparative adverb → describes 'runs')
In everyday speech, we often say than me or than him. In more formal writing, you can use than I or than he when the verb is understood. You can also use the full form than I do or than he does, especially when you want to make the action clear.
Comparative adjectives
A comparative adjective gives information about a person or thing. It often comes after be or before a noun.
| Adjective | Comparative | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| tall | taller | Most short adjectives add -er. |
| big | bigger | Double the final consonant after a short vowel. |
| happy | happier | Change -y to -i and add -er. |
| expensive | more expensive | Longer adjectives usually use more. |
- This house is bigger than that house.
- He is taller than his brother.
- This is a faster car than that one.
Comparative adverbs
A comparative adverb tells us how one action is different from another.
| Adverb | Comparative | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| fast | faster | Short adverbs that have the same form as adjectives often add -er. |
| hard | harder | Short adverbs often add -er. |
| early | earlier | Change -y to -i and add -er. |
| carefully | more carefully | Adverbs ending in -ly usually use more. |
| well | better | This is an irregular form. |
Late → later follows the short-adverb pattern. Other -ly adverbs also usually use more: quietly → more quietly and slowly → more slowly. Early → earlier, not more early.
In informal speech, you may also hear a bare comparative with a few -ly adverbs, such as Drive slower or Come quicker. In careful writing, more slowly and more quickly are usually safer.
- She runs faster than me.
- He arrives earlier than his colleague.
- She drives more carefully than him.
Do not confuse hard and hardly. "He works harder" means he puts in more effort. "He hardly works" means he almost does not work.
Key difference
Use a comparative adjective to give information about a person or thing. Use a comparative adverb to say how someone does an action.
- He is faster than me. (The adjective faster describes him.)
- He runs faster than me. (The adverb faster describes how he runs.)
Use a comparative adverb to describe an action.
- ✗ He speaks English more careful than me. → ✓ He speaks English more carefully than me.
- ✗ She sings more good than me. → ✓ She sings better than me.
After be, look, feel, and sound
When be, look, feel, or sound gives information about the subject, use a comparative adjective after it.
- Marta looks happier than her sister.
- This blanket feels softer than that one.
- The new engine sounds quieter than the old one.
Use an adjective, not an adverb, after these verbs in this use. Say Marta looks happier, not looks more happily; the blanket feels softer, not feels more softly; and the engine sounds quieter, not sounds more quietly.
Irregular comparative forms
Some comparative forms are irregular:
| Base form | Use | Comparative |
|---|---|---|
| good | adjective | better |
| well | adverb | better |
| badly | adverb | worse |
| much / a lot | quantity | more |
| far | distance | farther / further |
| little | amount | less |
Compare the base forms first:
He is a good singer. (adjective)
He sings well. (adverb)
This is a good performance. Today’s performance is better. (adjective)
She sings well. She sings better than before. (adverb)
She played worse than last week. (adverb)
We travel more than we did last year. (quantity)
The station is farther/further than I thought. (distance)
There is less traffic today. (amount)
For distance, farther is especially common in American English; further is common in British English and is also a safe general choice.
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Comparing to a lower degree and joining comparatives
Less and not as ... as
Use less + adjective/adverb + than or not as + adjective/adverb + as to show a lower degree.
- She works less carefully than before.
- She does not work as carefully as her colleague.
- This hotel is less expensive than the other one.
- My brother is not as tall as me.
Joining two comparatives
Join two comparative adverbs with and before one than phrase.
- She now works faster and more carefully than before.
- He answered more clearly and more confidently than last time.
Do not use two comparative forms for one adverb: say faster, not more faster, and more carefully, not carefuller.
Word order with comparative adverbs
With an action verb and an object, put the object before the comparative adverb. The object belongs closely with the verb, so do not separate it from the verb with a comparative adverb.
- ✓ She speaks English more fluently than me.
- ✗ She speaks more fluently English.
- ✓ They completed the task more quickly than us.
- ✗ They completed more quickly the task.
Comparative modifiers
Put these words before a comparative to show a bigger or smaller difference:
- much faster
- a lot more carefully
- a bit earlier
- far taller
For example: "The new train is much faster than the old one." / "Marta arrived a bit earlier than Leo."
Do not normally use very directly before a comparative. Say very fast, but much faster, far faster, or a lot faster — not very faster.
Quick recap
- Use a comparative adjective to describe a person or thing, and a comparative adverb to describe how an action happens.
- Short adjectives and many short adverbs use -er; longer adjectives and -ly adverbs usually use more.
- After be, look, feel, and sound, use a comparative adjective when the verb describes the subject.
- Remember the irregular forms: good/well → better, badly → worse, much/a lot → more, far → farther/further, and little → less.
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Comparative Adjectives vs Comparative Adverbs
60 wordsLast updated October 14, 2026