[Grammar] Comparative adjectives - big etc.

[Chris8080]

Hi,

after endless discussion with my girlfriend we thought about posting it here - since she doesn't believe me .. :roll:

big - bigger - the biggest, that's whatI learned in school.

She claims that it would be right to use:
more bigger
as well, but I think this is wrong.

esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/comp.htm
that kind of tells me that I'm right - but still she doesn't believe me.

Could someone help us to solve this problem?

Thank you in advance
Bye Chris

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi,

after endless discussion with my girlfriend we thought about posting it here - since she doesn't believe me .. :roll:

big - bigger - the biggest, that's whatI learned in school.

She claims that it would be right to use:
more bigger
as well, but I think this is wrong.

esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/comp.htm
that kind of tells me that I'm right - but still she doesn't believe me.

Could someone help us to solve this problem?

Thank you in advance
Bye Chris

"more bigger" is incorrect.

 

[White Hat]

"big" is a small word. It goes without saying "more bigger" sounds awkward. You may say "more difficult", "more beautiful".

 

[5jj]

'more bigger' is not just awkward; as bhai said, it is incorrect. 'bigger' is already the comparative form; you can't make it more comparative.

 

[Chris8080]

Thank you all.
The rule I learned is:
Along with 3 syllables we would use more, most.
Now I found a rule for every adjective derived from french, greek, etc - but still the longer ones.

Hope that will avoid some discussion in the future
Thanks.

 

[5jj]

There are no absolute rules about how we form the comparison and superlative forms of adjectives.
Generally speaking, adjectives of one syllable add er/est: high, higher, highest.
Those of three syllables or more generally take more/most: difficult, more difficult, most difficult.

Two-syllable adjectives ending in an unstressed syllable, especially if that syllable ends in a vowel sound, generally add -er/est: lively, livelier, liveliest.

 

[5jj]

There are no absolute rules about how we form the comparison and superlative forms of adverbs Generally we construct these forms with more and most, but a few adverbs, such as fast and hard, that have the same form as adjectives, take -er, -est.

There are also a few irregular forms, such as well/better/best and badly/worse/worst.