Like adjectives, adverbs in English have three degrees:
- positive adverbs (e.g., softly), used to qualify the modified word without comparing it to anything else;
- comparative adverbs (e.g., more softly), used to compare two qualities;
- and superlative adverbs (e.g., most softly), used to indicate that one modified word has a quality to a greater or lesser degree than two or more others.
Rules for forming comparative and superlative adverbs
(1) Adverbs ending in –ly take the forms of comparative and superlative adjectives—e.g., I arrived early. He arrived earlier than me. She arrived earliest of all of us.
(2) Comparative adverbs of two or more syllables use more or less—e.g., I finished quickly. He finished more quickly. She finished most quickly of all of us.
(3) Writers occasionally modify –ly adverbs by changing the –ly to –lier or –liest (e.g., softlier, softliest), but these forms are usually considered nonstandard.
Irregular comparative and superlative adverbs
There are a few adverbs that don’t play by the rules. These are the most common ones:
badly – worse – worst
far – further/farther – furthest/farthest
little – less – least
much – more – most
well – better – best
