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REET L1+L2 · English (Language I/II)

Degrees of Comparison: Positive, Comparative, Superlative — Rules and Transformations

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This page covers the three degrees of adjectives — Positive, Comparative and Superlative — the rules for forming them, spelling changes, irregular forms, Latin comparatives that take 'to', common mistakes, and how to transform sentences by changing degree. REET 2024 carried 5 questions on this topic, all straightforward, on the correct form and identification of degree.

  • 5 questions in REET 2024
  • Class 4–10 grammar level
  • 8-minute read
Verified 17 September 2026 · Source: Adjectives: forms — English Grammar Today, Cambridge Dictionary

How REET asks this topic

REET 2024's 5 questions were very direct: the comparative of 'heavy' (heavier), the superlative of 'busy' (busiest — 'Busyest' was a misspelt option), the correct order of the three forms of handsome (the BSER key: handsome, more handsome, most handsome), identifying a superlative sentence (The straightest line was drawn by Ravi), and choosing lighter for 'Cotton is ___ than wood' based on meaning. So the exam tests spelling rules (y → i), more/most versus -er/-est, the cue word 'than', and understanding meaning — all four at once.

What the Three Degrees Are

Adjectives (and many adverbs) come in three forms for comparing a quality. Positive degree — the plain form of the quality, with no comparison, or an equal comparison (as…as): Ravi is tall / Ravi is as tall as Mohan. Comparative degree — comparing two people/things or groups, usually with 'than': Ravi is taller than Mohan. Superlative degree — the highest or lowest degree of a quality among three or more, usually with 'the': Ravi is the tallest boy in the class.

Remember the cue words: 'than' signals comparative; 'the … of all / in the class / ever' signals superlative; 'as … as' or 'so … as' signals positive. Meaning matters too — in 'Cotton is ___ than wood', both heavier and lighter are grammatically comparative, but only lighter is correct by meaning.

Rules for Forming Comparative and Superlative

Rule

One-syllable words-er / -est

Ending in -ejust -r / -st

One vowel + one consonant at the end (one syllable)double the final consonant, then -er / -est

Ending in consonant + ychange y to i, then -er / -est

Ending in vowel + yy stays unchanged

Most two-or-more-syllable wordsmore / most placed before

A few two-syllable words (clever, narrow, simple, quiet, gentle)both forms are in use

-ly adverbsmore / most

Example

One-syllable wordstall – taller – tallest; long – longer – longest

Ending in -elarge – larger – largest; wise – wiser – wisest

One vowel + one consonant at the end (one syllable)big – bigger – biggest; hot – hotter – hottest; thin – thinner – thinnest

Ending in consonant + yheavy – heavier – heaviest; busy – busier – busiest; happy – happier – happiest

Ending in vowel + ygrey – greyer – greyest

Most two-or-more-syllable wordsbeautiful – more beautiful – most beautiful; careful – more careful – most careful

A few two-syllable words (clever, narrow, simple, quiet, gentle)cleverer / more clever; narrower / more narrow

-ly adverbsslowly – more slowly – most slowly

handsomer/handsomest also appear in dictionaries, but school grammar, and REET 2024's BSER key, treated more handsome – most handsome as correct.

Irregular Forms (worth memorising)

PositiveComparativeSuperlativeNote
good / wellbetterbest—
bad / badly / illworseworst—
much / manymoremostmuch for quantity, many for number
little (quantity)lessleastlittle in the size sense also has littler/smaller
farfarther / furtherfarthest / furthestfurther can also mean 'additional/more'
oldolder / elderoldest / eldestelder–eldest only for family members; elder never takes than
latelater / latterlatest / lastlater–latest for time; latter–last for order

Common Mistakes and Special Rules

(1) Never double up a comparison — more better, most tallest are wrong. (2) Latin-derived comparatives — superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior, preferable — take to, not than: He is senior to me; This cloth is superior to that. (3) Words expressing completeness — perfect, unique, round, square, complete, ideal — aren't compared in school grammar: don't write more perfect. (4) When choosing between two, comparative takes the: Ravi is the taller of the two brothers. (5) 'The + comparative …, the + comparative' expresses proportion: The harder you work, the better you score.

(6) 'than any other' is used when comparing within the same group: Jaipur is bigger than any other city in Rajasthan (Jaipur is itself a city in Rajasthan). Comparing across different groups, just 'than any' is used: Mumbai is bigger than any city in Rajasthan. (7) Comparisons must be between like things — The climate of Jaipur is hotter than that of Shimla (not than Shimla). (8) 'elder' never takes than — He is older than me is correct, He is elder than me is wrong; but my elder brother is fine.

Sentence Transformation by Changing Degree

DegreeSentence (same meaning)
SuperlativeLata is the best singer in the group.
ComparativeLata is better than any other singer in the group. / No other singer in the group is better than Lata.
PositiveNo other singer in the group is as good as Lata.
Superlative (one of the)Delhi is one of the largest cities in India.
ComparativeDelhi is larger than most other cities in India.
PositiveVery few cities in India are as large as Delhi.

A 'one of the + superlative + plural noun' sentence is transformed using 'most other' and 'very few … as … as', not 'any other'.

How to Teach This to Children

Classes 2–4: Three pencils

Stand three pencils of different lengths, or three children, side by side — 'This pencil is long. This one is longer. This one is the longest.' Real objects make the meaning of all three degrees clear without rote rules.

Classes 5–8: Comparison survey

Groups run a small class survey (height, distance from home) and write report sentences — 'Neha lives farther than Aman. Kabir is the tallest in our group.'

Find the rule

Give a word list (big, happy, large, beautiful, hot, busy) and have children form comparatives, letting them discover the y → i change, the doubled consonant, and the more/most group on their own (inductive method).

Teaching aids

Comparison pictures of objects/animals, a three-column degree chart, flash cards for irregular forms, and a card with statistics about Rajasthan's cities/rivers.

Common misconceptions

Mistakes like more better, busyest, biger; superior with than; elder than; and adding -er to every long adjective (beautifuller).

Assessment idea

Have students transform 5 sentences across degree (superlative → comparative → positive) and write three comparison sentences from a picture; give feedback on both spelling and meaning.

Memory trick / exam tip

A three-second check: (1) is there 'than'? → comparative, (2) is there 'the' + a group? → superlative, (3) does the word end in consonant + y? → change y to i (busiest, heavier). And '-ior' words (senior, junior, superior, inferior, prior) always take 'to', never than.

Questions asked in REET 2024 (solved)

Question 39

Cotton is ___________ than wood. Choose the correct adjective.

  1. Aheavier
  2. Blighter
  3. Cheavy
  4. Dlight

Explanation

वाक्य में ‘than’ है, इसलिए comparative degree चाहिए। रुई (cotton) लकड़ी से हल्की होती है, अतः ‘lighter’ सही है। ‘heavier’ अर्थ की दृष्टि से गलत है और ‘heavy/light’ positive degree हैं जो ‘than’ के साथ नहीं आते।

Question 40

The comparative degree of ‘heavy’ is

  1. Amore heavy
  2. Bmost heavy
  3. Cheavier
  4. Dheaviest

Explanation

‘heavy’ जैसे व्यंजन + y पर समाप्त होने वाले विशेषण में y को i बनाकर ‘-er’ जोड़ते हैं: heavy → heavier → heaviest। ‘more heavy/most heavy’ मानक रूप नहीं हैं और ‘heaviest’ superlative degree है।

Question 33

Choose the sentence with superlative degree :

  1. ARavi’s line was straighter than Shalu’s.
  2. BThe straightest line was drawn by Ravi.
  3. CShalu drew a more straight line.
  4. DThe straight line was drawn by Ravi and Shalu.

Explanation

Superlative degree में तीन या अधिक में सबसे अधिक गुण बताने के लिए 'the + -est' रूप आता है। 'The straightest line was drawn by Ravi.' में 'straightest' superlative है। विकल्प A में 'straighter than' comparative है और D में 'straight' positive degree है।

Question 34

The correct sequence is :

  1. Ahandsome, more handsome, most handsome
  2. Bhandsome, handsomer, handsomest
  3. Chandsome, handsome, more handsome
  4. Dhandsomest, handsome, handsomest

Explanation

'handsome' दो-अक्षरीय (two-syllable) विशेषण है जिसकी degrees सामान्यतः 'more' और 'most' लगाकर बनाई जाती हैं: handsome – more handsome – most handsome। यद्यपि कुछ शब्दकोश 'handsomer/handsomest' भी देते हैं, विद्यालयी व्याकरण और आधिकारिक कुंजी के अनुसार विकल्प A सही है; C और D क्रम में ही गलत हैं।

Question 60

Choose the correct superlative degree of ‘busy’.

  1. ABusiest
  2. BBusier
  3. CBusyest
  4. DBusiast

Explanation

व्यंजन + y पर समाप्त होने वाले विशेषणों में y को i में बदलकर -er/-est लगाते हैं: busy – busier – busiest। अतः superlative degree 'Busiest' है; 'Busier' comparative degree है।

Practice questions

Question 1

The comparative degree of ‘big’ is:

  1. Abiger
  2. Bbigger
  3. Cmore big
  4. Dbiggest

Explanation

In a one-syllable word ending in one vowel + one consonant, the final consonant is doubled before -er: big – bigger – biggest.

Question 2

Choose the correct superlative degree of ‘good’.

  1. Agoodest
  2. Bbetter
  3. Cbest
  4. Dmost good

Explanation

good is an irregular adjective: good – better – best.

Question 3

‘My brother is senior ______ me by three years.’

  1. Athan
  2. Bto
  3. Cfrom
  4. Dover

Explanation

Latin comparatives like senior, junior, superior, inferior take 'to', not than.

Question 4

Choose the correct sentence.

  1. AThis is the most tallest tower.
  2. BThis tower is more taller than that.
  3. CThis tower is taller than that.
  4. DThis tower is tallest than that.

Explanation

Double comparisons (most tallest, more taller) are wrong, and comparative is followed by than — taller than.

Question 5

‘Of the two sisters, Rekha is ______.’

  1. Athe cleverest
  2. Bthe cleverer
  3. Ccleverest
  4. Dmost clever

Explanation

When choosing between two, comparative takes 'the' — the cleverer of the two.

Question 6

Choose the correct form: ‘Mount Everest is higher than ______ mountain in the world.’

  1. Aany
  2. Bany other
  3. Call
  4. Devery

Explanation

Mount Everest is itself part of the group of the world's mountains, so a comparison within the same group takes 'than any other'.

Question 7

Change into positive degree: ‘Kavita is the most intelligent girl in the class.’

  1. ANo other girl in the class is as intelligent as Kavita.
  2. BKavita is more intelligent than any other girl in the class.
  3. CKavita is as intelligent as other girls in the class.
  4. DSome girls in the class are more intelligent than Kavita.

Explanation

The positive form of a superlative is built with 'No other … as … as'. B is comparative, and C and D change the meaning.

Question 8

‘He is my ______ brother.’

  1. Aolder than
  2. Belder
  3. Celdest than
  4. Dmore old

Explanation

'elder' is used before a noun for a family member — my elder brother. than never follows elder/eldest.

Question 9

The correct sequence of degrees for ‘happy’ is:

  1. Ahappy, happyer, happyest
  2. Bhappy, more happy, most happiest
  3. Chappy, happier, happiest
  4. Dhappier, happy, happiest

Explanation

In a word ending consonant + y, the y changes to i before -er/-est: happy – happier – happiest.

Question 10

To introduce degrees of comparison in Class 3, the most effective teaching aid is:

  1. Aa list of rules written on the board
  2. Bthree real objects of different sizes shown one by one
  3. Ca grammar book definition to be memorised
  4. Da dictation of irregular adjectives

Explanation

At the primary level, showing comparison with real objects (long, longer, longest) makes the meaning clear; teaching rules by rote isn't effective at this stage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Degrees of Comparison are there?+

Three — Positive (tall), Comparative (taller) and Superlative (tallest).

What is the superlative degree of 'busy'?+

'busiest'. In adjectives ending in consonant + y, the y changes to i before -est: busy – busier – busiest.

What is the difference between Elder and Older?+

Older can be used for anyone/anything and takes than; elder is used only for family members, before a noun (my elder sister), and never takes than.

Why doesn't than follow Superior and Senior?+

Latin-derived comparatives such as superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior take 'to' — He is senior to me.

How many questions come from Degrees of Comparison in REET?+

REET 2024 carried 5 questions on this topic — the correct comparative/superlative form, the order of degrees, and identifying a superlative sentence.

Read next

Articles & Determiners

The rules for using a, an, the and determiners.

Prepositions

Correct use of prepositions of time, place and direction.

REET Syllabus 2026

The complete subject-wise syllabus and exam pattern for Level 1 and Level 2.

REET 2024 Solved Paper

Official questions from every shift, with the BSER answer key and explanations.

Official Sources

  1. Adjectives: forms — English Grammar Today, Cambridge Dictionary
  2. Comparative and superlative adjectives — LearnEnglish, British Council
  3. BSER — REET 2024 official question papers and final answer keys (original PDFs; no longer hosted on the board portal)

Change Log

  • 17 September 2026 — English page published — mirrors the fact-checked Hindi page, independently bilingual-accuracy checked