Comparison and position of adverbs
Compare adverbs correctly and place them where they belong in a sentence.
You can now name the kinds of adverbs. This lesson shows how to compare them and where to place them in a sentence.
Adverbs have degrees of comparison (positive, comparative, superlative), and their position in a sentence follows set patterns that can affect meaning.
Examples
- Varun swims faster than me.
- Of all the drivers, Rekha drives most carefully.
- My sister plays the flute better than I do.
- He is usually calm.
- They have never seen snow.
How it works
Forming comparisons
Short adverbs such as fast, hard, soon add -er and -est. Most adverbs ending in -ly use more and most.
Please speak more clearly.
Irregular forms
A few adverbs change completely: well, better, best; badly, worse, worst; much, more, most; little, less, least.
Our team played worse than last year.
Placing frequency adverbs
Put an adverb of frequency before the main verb, after am, is, are, was, were, and after the first auxiliary. Never place it between a verb and its object.
She has always loved music.
The position of only
Only limits the word next to it, so moving it changes the meaning. Place it right beside the word you want to limit.
Only Meera passed the driving test (nobody else did).
Quick reference
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| fast | faster | fastest |
| soon | sooner | soonest |
| carefully | more carefully | most carefully |
| well | better | best |
| badly | worse | worst |
| far | farther / further | farthest / furthest |
| little | less | least |
Common mistakes
✕He drinks always coffee in the morning.
✓He always drinks coffee in the morning.
The adverb of frequency comes before the main verb, not between the verb and its object.
✕She sang more well than before.
✓She sang better than before.
Well has the irregular comparative better.
✕Ajay finished his work quicklier than us.
✓Ajay finished his work more quickly than we did.
Most -ly adverbs form the comparative with more.
Worked example
Exercise 1
Tap the adverb in the comparative degree.
Raju sings better than his sister.
✓better
better is the comparative of the adverb well.
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