Comparative Adverbs
We can make comparative adjectives (like ‘she is smarter than her brother’) but we can also make comparative adverbs if we want to compare verbs.
•He is doing his homework more quickly than his friend.
We make a comparative adverb by using ‘more’ with adverbs that end in ‘ly’.
•Jim speaks more quietly than Jack.
(One exception to this is ‘early : earlier’.)
For short adverbs, we can add ‘er’.
•She drives faster than you do.
There are some irregular adverbs. ‘Badly : worse’ and ‘well : better’.
•They played worse than we did.
•He works better than his brother does.
In informal English, you will often hear people use a comparative adjective rather than a comparative adverb in this kind of situation.
•He is running quicker than his friend. (With an adverb, it’s ‘more quickly’.)
That’s fine in speech, but it isn’t traditionally correct, so in more formal situations, it’s better to use a comparative adverb.
Let’s review! Make sentences with comparative adverbs.
