Good, better, best, bad, worse and worst

Key Notes :

Adjectives and Comparison:

• “Good” and “bad” are adjectives used to describe the quality or condition of nouns.
• “Better” and “worse” are comparative forms used to compare two things.
• “Best” and “worst” are superlative forms used to compare more than two things or to indicate the highest and lowest degree of quality.

Usage of ‘Good, Better, Best’:

• Good: Used to describe something positive or satisfactory.
  • Example: She is a good student.
• Better: Used when comparing two items, indicating one is more favorable.
  • Example: This book is better than the one I read last week.
• Best: Used when comparing three or more items, indicating the highest quality.
  • Example: Out of all the teams, ours is the best.

Usage of ‘Bad, Worse, Worst’:

• Bad: Used to describe something negative or unsatisfactory.
  • Example: He had a bad day.
• Worse: Used when comparing two items, indicating one is more unfavorable.
  • Example: The weather today is worse than yesterday.
• Worst: Used when comparing three or more items, indicating the lowest quality.
  • Example: That was the worst movie I’ve ever seen.

Rules for Forming Comparatives and Superlatives:

• For most one-syllable adjectives, add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative.
  • Example: tall → taller → tallest
• For adjectives ending in -y, change the -y to -i and add -er or -est.
  • Example: happy → happier → happiest
• Irregular adjectives like “good” and “bad” don’t follow these rules.
  • Good → Better → Best
  • Bad → Worse → Worst

Common Mistakes:

• Avoid using “more” or “most” with comparative and superlative forms that already include these meanings.
  • Incorrect: more better, most best
  • Correct: better, best

Contextual Usage:

• Use context to decide whether to use the comparative or superlative form.
  • Comparative: when comparing two entities.
  • Superlative: when comparing three or more entities.

Let’s practice!