Grados de comparación: bigger, biggest, more interesting
Cómo comparar dos cosas y destacar la mejor — reglas de escritura, excepciones y las construcciones que las rodean.
Comparar es una de las habilidades más útiles en el nivel A2, y el inglés lo hace de dos maneras distintas según la longitud de la palabra.
Adjetivos cortos: -er / -est
| Adjetivo | Comparativo | Superlativo |
|---|---|---|
| cheap | cheaper | the cheapest |
| big | bigger | the biggest |
| easy | easier | the easiest |
| nice | nicer | the nicest |
Ortografía: después de una vocal corta, la consonante se duplica (big → bigger); la y se convierte en i (easy → easier); la e muda simplemente añade -r (nice → nicer).
Adjetivos largos: more / most
Dos sílabas o más (salvo los que terminan en -y):
- expensive → more expensive → the most expensive
- interesting → more interesting → the most interesting
❌ more cheaper — nunca juntos. Uno u otro.
La zona intermedia de los bisílabos
Algunos adjetivos de dos sílabas admiten ambas formas, y las dos son correctas: los que terminan en -y, -er, -ow, -le.
- clever → cleverer o more clever
- narrow → narrower o more narrow
- simple → simpler o more simple
- quiet → quieter o more quiet
Si duda con cualquier otro adjetivo de dos sílabas, lo más seguro es more: nunca es un error, aunque a veces suene menos elegante.
Excepciones
| Comparativo | Superlativo | |
|---|---|---|
| good | better | the best |
| bad | worse | the worst |
| far | further / farther | the furthest |
| little | less | the least |
| much / many | more | the most |
Los adverbios se comparan igual
La lógica es la misma: los cortos llevan -er, y los que terminan en -ly van con more.
- She runs faster than me. · He works harder than anyone.
- Please speak more slowly. · It happened more quickly than expected.
Aparte: well → better y badly → worse: She sings better than I do.
Construcciones que las acompañan
than con el comparativo:
This one is cheaper than that one.
the con el superlativo:
It is the cheapest in the shop. (no of the shop)
as … as para la igualdad:
Mine is as good as yours.
It isn't as expensive as I thought.
much / a bit para el grado de diferencia:
It's much better. / It's a bit colder today.
Otros intensificadores: far, slightly, a lot, no — It's far cheaper. · It's no better than the last one.
Tres construcciones que conviene adoptar
En sentido inverso: less / the least. This one is less expensive. · It was the least useful part of the course.
Cambio a lo largo del tiempo: -er and -er. The queue is getting longer and longer. · It's becoming more and more difficult.
Cambio correlacionado: the … the …. The more you practise, the easier it gets. · The sooner, the better.
Superlativo + ever. It's the best film I've ever seen. · That was the worst meal we've ever had.
Y fíjese en la construcción one of the: después va el plural. It's one of the biggest cities in Europe. (no «one of the biggest city»)
Errores frecuentes
❌ She is more taller than me. → ✅ She is taller than me. ❌ It is the most cheap. → ✅ It is the cheapest. ❌ He is more good at maths. → ✅ He is better at maths. ❌ It's the same like mine. → ✅ It's the same as mine.
Eligiendo entre dos teléfonos
A: This one's a bit more expensive, but the camera's much better.
B: Is it? The other one has a bigger screen, and it's one of the lightest they make.
A: True. The more I look at it, the harder it gets to choose.
B: Then take the cheaper one — it isn't as good, but it's good enough.
Seis construcciones comparativas en cuatro intervenciones — una densidad bastante habitual en una conversación real.
Ponga a prueba lo que acaba de leer
El test de abajo trata sobre ortografía, excepciones y construcciones.