Ontest Grammar Police say: Adjective comparative forms liken two or more things (nouns). There is a right way and there are many wrong ways to form these comparatives. They aren’t up for grabs; the rules are standard.
When writers, reporters, and editors in the media describe a political pundit as as more tall, more friendly, or more smart than another, my hackles rise. There are real rules, not options or guidelines, for forming comparatives, I browsed the The Chicago Manual of Style.
Listen up, journalists, bloggers, and anchors! Grammar Police say these are not options:
- If the adjective has one syllable, ends in e , like blue or cute, just tack on an r. (bluer, cuter)
- If the adjective has one syllable, one vowel, and ends in one consonant, like hot or fat, double the end consonant and add er. (hotter, fatter)
- Adjective has multiple vowels within the word or multiple consonants at the end, but one syllable, add er. (brighter, cleaner, brisker)
- Adjective with two syllables ends in y like crappy, jazzy, or dumpy, change the y to i and smack on an er. (crappier, jazzier)
- Adjective with two or more syllables does not end in y - here it is! NOW you precede the adjective with more but you never add an ending to the word. (more meaningful, more compelling, but never more beautifuller.)
Superlatives, like jazziest or bluest are formed by the same rules, says the University of Victoria in Canada.
Someone theorized that the trend of pairing every comparative with more came from journalists being paid by the word…hmmmm. Paycheck notwithstanding, I’d rather hear more ers and fewer mores on the nightly news.
And Dr. Phil? You could use these rules, too.
What do you think when you hear these inane comparatives with more stuck on the front of a word? Talk to me.
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