Comparatives: Irregular forms

You use these words to compare two specific things. Maybe you are comparing two different smartphones. Maybe you are comparing two different cities. You want to show which one is higher quality. Or you want to show which one is further away. The irregular word takes the place of the adjective. You do not add any extra endings. You just use the new word. Usually, you follow the word with than. This connects the two things you are comparing. For example, "This phone is better than that one." The word better tells us about the quality. It is much stronger than saying more good. In fact, more good sounds very strange to native ears. These words provide a shortcut to clear communication. They make your sentences punchy and effective. Think of it like a grammar traffic light. It tells the listener exactly where your opinion is going.

1. 1Start with your base adjective like good or bad.
2. 2Forget the rule about adding -er to the end.
3. 3Replace the base word with its special comparative form.
4. 4Good transforms into the word better.
5. 5Bad transforms into the word worse.
6. 6Far transforms into farther or further.
7. 7Little transforms into the word less.
8. 8Much and many transform into the word more.
9. 9Put the word than after your new comparative word.
10. 10Add the second object of your comparison at the end.
11. 11It is like a quick word swap. You are trading a basic word for a premium one. No extra suffixes are needed here. Just the word itself does all the heavy lifting.

Use these words when you are ordering food. You might want less sugar in your coffee. Use them when you are giving directions. You might say the park is farther than the bank. Use them in a job interview. You can say your skills are better now. Use them when you are shopping for clothes. You might like one shirt more than another. Use them when talking about the weather. Today might be worse than yesterday because of the rain. These words are perfect for sharing your opinions. They help you describe your personal experiences. They are very common in casual chats with friends. They are also vital for professional business meetings. You will hear them in movies and songs constantly. They are the backbone of English comparisons. If you want to sound fluent, these are your best friends.

Do not use these when comparing three or more things. That is a job for superlatives like best. Do not use them for equal things. If two things are the same, use as ... as. For example, "This tea is as good as that tea." Do not use them with regular comparative rules. Never add -er to an irregular word. Betterer is not a word in English. It will make people tilt their heads in confusion. Like a cat looking at a laser pointer. Also, do not use more with these words. More better is redundant and sounds incorrect. Use only the irregular word by itself. It is strong enough to stand on its own. It does not need a helper word like more or very to work.

Many people try to follow the regular rules. They say gooder instead of better. They say badder instead of worse. This is a very natural mistake to make. Even kids who speak English as a first language do this. But you should try to avoid it in your writing. Another mistake is mixing up farther and further. Farther is for physical distance you can measure. Further is for abstract things like "further information." Don't worry if you mix them up sometimes. Most native speakers do not even notice the difference. Just try to keep your sentences simple. Avoid double comparatives like more worse. It is like putting salt in your coffee. It just doesn't belong there! Keep your comparisons clean and simple for the best results.

Regular comparatives are like a straight line. You take a word and add a tail. Small becomes smaller. Fast becomes faster. Irregular comparatives are like a magic trick. The word disappears and a new one appears. Good becomes better. This is different from long adjectives too. For long words, we use more. We say more beautiful or more expensive. But for irregulars, we don't use more. We change the word itself. Think of it as three different paths. Path one is adding -er. Path two is adding more. Path three is the irregular path. You must choose the right path for the right word. It gets easier with every conversation you have. Just remember that the most common words are often the irregular ones.