Editing Comparatives and Superlatives

Modifiers have special forms that help you compare topics. A comparative adjective can show which of two topics is bigger, faster, less messy, or more cost-effective. A superlative adjective can show which of three or more topics is biggest, fastest, least messy, or most cost-effective. Add er to most one-syllable words to make the comparative form, and add est to make the superlative form.

Most One-Syllable Adjectives

For most adjectives of two syllables or more, add more or less for comparative forms and most or least for superlative forms. (Note that some two-syllable adjectives can still take er and est.)

Most Adjectives with Two or More Syllables

Some adjectives are irregular because they change form to create comparatives and superlatives.

Irregular Adjectives

You can apply the same basic rules to correctly form comparative and superlative adverbs.

Comparative and Superlative Adverbs

Whenever you use comparative adjectives or adverbs, make sure your reader knows the two things you are comparing. To make the comparison clear, you may need to add a phrase or clause that starts with than.

1. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most lovinglovingest people in the civil rights movement.
2. Malcolm X thought King and his followers should be angrier and more militantmilitanter.
3. His revolution would be bloodierbloody than King's.
4. Nonviolent protesters had to be more patientpatienter than their violent counterparts.
5. Over time, King's approach has proven more successfulsuccessfuller than Malcolm X's.
6. People with savant syndrome usually are more profoundlyprofoundlier challenged than those with Asperger's syndrome.
7. Savants paradoxically have more amazingmost amazing gifts than their counterparts.
8. Though people with Asperger's syndrome process information differently than neurotypicals, savants use even more aberrantaberranter neural pathways.
9. People with Asperger's syndrome have unique interests, but savant skills are even more idiosyncraticidiosyncraticer.
10. Savants skills are more surprising than those of people with Asperger's syndrome. (Add a "than" phrase or clause to complete the comparison.)

Editing Punctuation of Compound Sentences

Often when you compare two subjects or work with similarities and differences, you will create sentences with two parts. A compound sentence connects two independent clauses (two parts that could each stand as its own sentence). You can do so by using a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, or yet).

If you leave out the coordinating conjunction, you create an error called a comma splice. (A comma alone is not strong enough to join two sentences.) If you leave out the comma, the compound sentence is incorrectly punctuated. (The reader doesn't know when one thought ends and the next one begins.) If you leave out both the comma and the coordinating conjunction, you have an error called a run-on sentence.

You can fix these errors by adding the missing part (comma, coordinating conjunction, or both). You can also fix them by adding a semicolon.

1. Apples have a thin skin, but oranges have a thick rind.
2. The seeds in an apple cluster around its core, yet those in an orange appear in the segments of fruit.
3. Scientists have bred seedless oranges; they have been less successful with seedless apples.
4. Apples grow well through temperate climates throughout the upper United States, but oranges need warmer conditions like those in Florida or California.
5. Many credit the profusion of apple trees throughout the country to the legendary Johnny Appleseed; , few realize the legend was based on the real-life orchardist John Chapman.
6. Early settlers could claim land by developing it, so Chapman planted groves of apple trees in the wild in order to claim the land.
7. The developed plots of land became Chapman's property, so he could sell the land to settlers for a large profit.
8. A similar strategy could have worked for Oliver Orangeseed, but he would have had to compete with cotton growers for space.
9. Apples and oranges may have many differences, but they have more in common with each other than with bananas.
10. Apples, oranges, and bananas have their own unique flavors, textures, and colors, yet they taste delicious together in a fruit salad!

Editing in Action

After you check your comparative and superlative modifiers and the punctuation of compound sentences, you should also make sure your comparison-contrast essay has correct punctuation, capitalization, spelling, usage, and grammar. Keep editing until your essay is error free.

• Text Before Edits

  

• Run-ons, comma splices, and comma errors are fixed as well as a superlative adjective.

  

• Text After Edits

  

Publishing the Final Copy

Reflecting on Your Writing