Business English Tip of the Week

When you were at school you were probably drilled in the comparison of adjectives: interesting, more interesting, most interesting; fair, fairer, fairest, etc.

The two examples above are of regular comparative forms. However, a common problem is not knowing when to use -er-, -est- or -more- + adj., -most- + adj.

Actually, there is a very simple rule to help you remember which comparative form to use. Count the number of syllables in an adjective. Syllables are the sounds which make up a word. For example:

Adjectives which contain one or two syllables follow the -er-, -est-, form. For example: big, bigger, biggest; and clever, cleverer, cleverest.

Adjectives which contain more than two syllables follow the -more-, -most- form. For example: arrogant, more arrogant, most arrogant; intelligent, more intelligent, most intelligent.

That's an easy rule to remember!