Justin brought his two pet dogs, Rusty the beagle and Rooney the German shepherd, to a pet show. While the dogs are alike in that they are both short-haired working breeds from popular lineages, they differ in size, coat color, and temperament - Rusty is medium-sized with brown and white spots and prefers staying at home, while Rooney is larger with black and silver fur and enjoys wandering alone. The passage then compares the dogs' similarities and differences in more detail and provides examples of how to form comparative and superlative adjectives in English.

1. Using Irregular Adjectives
in
Making Comparisons
Degrees of Comparison in Adjectives

2. Let us read what he says when he compares them…
One time, the grade six pupils decided to have a pet
show. Surprisingly, Justin brought his two pet dogs
which are of high breed.

3. “It is hard for me to tell which of my two dogs is
better. They are alike in many ways, yet they are
different. To begin with, Rusty, a beagle, and Rooney, a
German shepherd, represent two of the most popular
breeds of dogs. They are both short- haired and came
from a long line of working dogs. Shepherds once
worked with sheepherders, and beagles are still trained
to work with hunters. I find the difference between Rusty
and Rooney interesting, too. The shepherd is big and
the beagle is medium-sized. Rooney’s silver and black
coat

4. contrasts with Rusty’s white-and-brown spotted coat.
And although you can always find Rusty sticking around
the house, protecting everybody in the family from my
father to our cat, Mooney, good old Rooney likes to run
and he takes off for a long walk all alone whenever he
gets the chance.”

5. - How are Rusty and Rooney alike?
- How are they different?
- If you have a pet dog, too, how would
you compare it with Rusty and Rooney?

6. Pointing out Similarities and Differences
SIMILARITIES DIFFERENCES
Rusty and Rooney are the most
popular breeds of dogs.
The shepherd is big and the
beagle is medium-sized.
Both are short-haired. They are
working dogs.
Rooney has silver and black
coat while Rusty has white and
brown spotted coat.
Rusty is protective and homey
while Rooney is very active and
loves to wander.

7. Degrees of Comparison in Irregular
Adjectives
Positive degree
Comparative degree
Superlative degree

8. Adjectives or describing words change form to show
degrees of comparison which are positive, comparative, and
superlative.
Positive Degree Comparative Degree Superlative Degree
- Describe only one
thing or person
- Comparing two persons or
things
- Comparing three or
more persons or things
A Japanese spitz is
large.
A beagle is larger than a
Japanese spitz.
The German shepherd is
the largest of the three.
The Japanese spitz is
popular.
The beagle is more popular
than the Japanese spitz.
The German shepherd is
the most popular of the
three.

9. Adjectives of one syllable
• Adjectives of one syllable add -er and -est.
• Adjectives ending on 'e' just add -r and -st.
• Some adjectives double the final consonant.
Positive Comparative
Superlativ
e
small
warm
old
nice
big
smaller
warmer
older
nicer
bigger
smallest
warmest
oldest
nicest
biggest

10. Adjectives of two syllables
• Some adjectives of two syllables add -er and -est.
• For adjectives ending in 'y‘ – cut y then add -ier and -iest.
• Adjectives ending in -ful, -less, -ing, -ed use more and
most.
• Some other adjectives of two syllables use more and most
(modern, famous, normal, correct, ...).Positive Comparative Superlative
narrow
happy
useful
boring
modern
narrower
happier
more useful
more boring
more modern
narrowest
happiest
most useful
most boring
most modern

11. Adjectives of three or more syllables
• Adjectives of three or more syllables use more and
most.
Positive Comparative Superlative
beautiful
dangerous
exciting
more beautiful
more dangerous
more exciting
most beautiful
most dangerous
most exciting

12. Degree of Comparison in Irregular Adjectives
Positive Comparative Superlative
good (well)
bad
little
much, many
far
late
old
better
worse
less
more
farther, further
later
older, elder
best
worst
least
most
farthest
last, latest
older, oldest

14. Exercise #1: complete the chart by supplying the missing form of the adjectives.
Example: great greater greatest
Positive Comparative Superlative
1.Studious
2. Gentle
3. Hungrier
4. High
5. Famous
6. Prettiest
7. Worse
8. Better
9. Dangerous
10. Far

15. Exercise #2: Decide which adjective correctly completes each sentence. Then rewrite the sentence.
Example: Tony is a (slower, slowest) runner than Anna.
Answer: Tony is a slower runner than Anna.
1. Our members are the (more fearless, most fearless).
2. The Rockets are (more gracious, most gracious) than us.
3. Roy is (taller, tallest) than Ben and gets more rebounds.
4. Mark is the (more daring, most daring) player in the court.
5. He is also the (more loyal, most loyal) player we have.
6. Of all the players, Cris is the (older, oldest)
7. Our (more difficult, most difficult) game is on Saturday.
8. We play the (more dynamic, most dynamic) tea of all.
9. It will be the (tougher, toughest) game of the season.
10.Our basketball team is called the (more dangerous, most
dangerous) in the league.

16. Exercise #3: Rewrite the following using the correct form of the adjectives
in parenthesis.
1. The (small) fish in the world is found in the Philippines.
2. Tabios is even (tiny) than anchovy or dilis.
3. Is there any place (hot) than Death Valley.
4. Libya has the (high) temperature of all.
5. If you like the sun, the Sahara is (good) place to be.
6. If you don’t, it is (bad) place to be.
7. The Gobi desert has (little) rainfall than the Sahara.
8. For me, the cat would be a (good) pet than the dog.
9. The cat is (easy) to manage because it is (small).
10.However, the dog might be (useful) than the cat because it
can do (big) chores like hoarding the house.

17. Exercise #4: Fill in the correct forms of adjectives.