What is a comparative vs a superlative?

Answer 1

Both comparatives and superlatives are forms of adjectives or adverbs.

Comparatives compare one subject to one other, and are usually followed by ‘than’:

“She is faster than her friend.”

“He is more talented than anyone I know.” (Here the speaker is still comparing ‘him’ to only one other subject, even though that subject contains more than one individual)

“I listen more attentively than you.”

Superlatives are used to compare more than two things, and tell us that the subject is/has the highest or lowest degree or quality of that adjective or adverb, compared to all others. These use the definite article ‘the’ as they represent a singular achievement:

“She is the best in her class at chemistry.”

“He is the worst-behaved child in the school.”

“You are the most experienced at your job.”

As seen in these examples, we can either give context to the wider pool of candidates (e.g. ‘best in her class’) or not ‘most experienced at your job’); if we don’t give context, it can usually be assumed (e.g. the person is the most experienced in his/her company).

Answer 2

A comparative is what we use when we are comparing two items, places, people or things to each other. A superlative is what we use when comparing one thing against the rest of its kind. One rule for this is that most superlatives end in "-est" while most comparatives end in "-er" **

Example of comparative: "Jim is taller than Pam."

Example of superlative: "Jim is the tallest person in the school."

**Keep in mind, some superlatives and comparatives use "most" or "more" instead, and the adjective itself does not change!

Example of comparative: "Jim is more athletic than Pam."

Example of superlative: "Jim in the most athletic person in the school."