Adjective Worksheet for Class 2
Comparing with -er and -est, 3 free printable PDFs with answers
In Class 2 an adjective is still a describing word, but your child now has to do something new with it: compare. Tall becomes taller when two things are set against each other, and tallest when three or more are. Class 2 also meets quantity words such as some, many, few and a little, and learns that a describing word can sit after the verb, as in The mango is sweet, not only in front of the naming word.
There are three printable sheets below. Sheet 1 finds and adds describing words inside longer Class 2 sentences, including the ones that hide after was. Sheet 2 is the comparing sheet: the -er and -est forms with the two spelling rules that catch children out, doubling the last letter in bigger and turning y into i in happier. Sheet 3 mixes comparing, quantity words and a short passage to underline. The answer keys for all three are further down this page.
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- Class 1 was about spotting a describing word. Class 2 is about comparing with it: tall, taller, tallest. That single shift is most of the year's work on this topic.
- Two spelling rules cause nearly every mistake. Big becomes bigger, where the last letter doubles, and happy becomes happier, where the y turns into an i.
- -er compares two things, -est compares three or more, and a word never takes more and -er at the same time. That is why "more taller" is always wrong.
- Class 2 papers also ask for the adjective that sits after the verb. A child taught only "it comes before the naming word" reads straight past The rice was hot.
What Class 2 adds to what your child already knows
If your child came through Class 1 comfortably, they can already look at a short sentence and point to the describing word. That skill is not the Class 2 syllabus. It is the starting line for it.
Class 2 keeps the same idea and asks three harder things of it. Most parents only discover the third one when a test paper comes home marked, so it is worth seeing all three side by side before you print anything.
| The skill | Class 1 asked for | Class 2 asks for |
|---|---|---|
| Finding it | A five or six word sentence in the present tense | Eight to ten words, often in the past tense: Ishaan carried a heavy bag to the school bus. |
| Where it sits | Just before the naming word | Before the naming word or after the verb: The rice was hot. |
| Comparing | Not covered | tall, taller, tallest. The whole new idea of the year. |
| Kinds of word | Colour, size, shape, number, feel and taste | All of those, plus quantity: some, many, few, a little |
| Spelling | The word never changed | The word changes: big becomes bigger, happy becomes happier |
The last row is the one that quietly does the damage. In Class 1 a describing word was a whole word your child either knew or did not. In Class 2 the word grows an ending, and that ending obeys spelling rules your child has to apply while also thinking about meaning. Two jobs at once is genuinely harder, and it is why a child who scored full marks on adjectives last year can suddenly look shaky.
- Comparing two things takes -er. Aarav is taller than his brother.
- Comparing three or more takes -est. Zoya was the fastest of all.
- Describing one thing on its own takes neither. The gate is wooden.
A two minute check before the first sheet. Line up three things on the table, a spoon, a pencil and a ladle. Ask which is long, which is longer, which is longest. If your child can say all three out loud, the written work will land. If they cannot, do it again with three other objects rather than reaching for a worksheet.
The -er and -est rules, and the spellings that trip children up
Here is the whole comparing system a Class 2 child needs, in one table. Print it, stick it inside the cupboard door, and you will not have to explain it twice.
Read the middle column as the instruction and the right column as the proof. Every rule matters because school papers deliberately pick words from all five rows.
| What the word looks like | What to do | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Most short words | Just add er and est | tall, taller, tallest · fast, faster, fastest · young, younger, youngest |
| It ends in e | Add only r and st, the e is already there | large, larger, largest · nice, nicer, nicest · safe, safer, safest |
| One vowel, then one consonant at the end | Double that last letter, then add er and est | big, bigger, biggest · hot, hotter, hottest · sad, sadder, saddest · thin, thinner, thinnest |
| It ends in y | Change the y to an i, then add er and est | happy, happier, happiest · easy, easier, easiest · funny, funnier, funniest · heavy, heavier, heaviest |
| Long words, three beats or more | Use more and most in front instead | careful, more careful, most careful · beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful |
The doubling rule, said the way a seven year old can use it
"One vowel then one consonant" is accurate and useless at the kitchen table. This works better: look at the last two letters. If it goes vowel, consonant, the consonant gets a twin. Say it while pointing at the letters.
- big ends in i then g, so the g gets a twin: bigger.
- hot ends in o then t, so the t gets a twin: hotter.
- long ends in n then g, two consonants, so nothing doubles: longer.
- cool ends in two vowels then an l, so nothing doubles: cooler.
Those last two examples matter more than the first two. Children who learn "double the letter" without the condition start writing longger and coolerr, which looks like carelessness and is actually an over-applied rule.
The four odd ones every Class 2 paper uses
A small set of very common words ignore the table completely. There is no rule to learn here, only four sets to know by heart, and school tests lean on them because they separate a child who understood from a child who memorised the endings.
| Word | Comparing two | Comparing three or more |
|---|---|---|
| good | better | best |
| bad | worse | worst |
| many | more | most |
| little | less | least |
Teach two and three, not er and est. The ending is not the lesson, the number of things is. Ask "how many are we comparing?" every single time. Two gets -er, three or more gets -est, and once a child asks themselves that question first, they stop writing the tallest of the two.
Quantity words, and the adjective that hides after the verb
Two smaller Class 2 additions sit alongside comparing. Neither takes long to teach, and both show up in exams often enough to be worth ten minutes each.
Quantity and number words
Class 1 counted: two eyes, six birds. Class 2 adds the words for amounts nobody counts exactly, and the only real difficulty is choosing between two pairs of them. The rule is about the thing being described, not the word itself.
| Question it answers | Words | Use it with | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| How many? | many, few, a few, several, three, ten | Things you can count one by one | Only a few parents sat in the sun. |
| How much? | much, a little, some, enough | Things you cannot count separately | Please put a little sugar in my milk. |
The home test that works: try counting the thing out loud. You can say one mango, two mangoes, so mangoes take many and few. You cannot say one sugar, two sugars, so sugar takes much and a little. Water, milk, rice, sand and time all behave like sugar. Do four or five of these out loud and your child will stop guessing.
The adjective that comes after the verb
All of Class 1 taught one position: the describing word sits just before the naming word. That was true and it was a useful shortcut. In Class 2 it becomes a trap, because roughly half of the sentences in a Class 2 exercise put the describing word on the other side of the verb.
- Before the naming word: Nithya found a round stone.
- After the verb: The stone was round.
Same word, same job, different seat. The verbs that let a describing word sit behind them are a short list your child can learn in one sitting: is, are, was, were, looks, feels, tastes, smells, sounds, seems, became. All of them are about what something is like rather than what it does, which is exactly why a describing word can follow.
- The soup on the table was too salty.
- Her school bag looks heavy.
- The shirts in that shop looked expensive.
Flip it out loud. Say a sentence one way and ask your child to say it the other way. "I ate a sweet mango." becomes "The mango was sweet." Do five of these in the car. It takes three minutes, and it is the fastest way to stop your child hunting only in front of the naming word.
Five mistakes Class 2 children make with comparing words
Marking a few hundred of these sheets, the same five errors come round again and again. They are not random. Each one is a rule applied in the wrong place, which is useful, because it tells you exactly what to reteach.
| What your child writes | What it should be | What went wrong |
|---|---|---|
| more taller, more better | taller, better | Comparing twice in one word. Use the ending or the word more, never both. |
| goodest, bestest, baddest | best, best, worst | Forcing -est onto the odd ones. Good and bad have their own words. |
| biger, hoter, thiner | bigger, hotter, thinner | Forgot to double. Vowel then consonant means the consonant gets a twin. |
| happyest, easyer, funnyest | happiest, easier, funniest | Forgot that the y turns into an i before the ending goes on. |
| the tallest of the two | the taller of the two | Used the three-or-more form for two things. Count first, then choose the ending. |
Notice that they split cleanly into two piles, and the piles need completely different help.
- Rule mistakes are rows one, two and five. Your child has misunderstood what the ending means. Reteaching the spelling will not touch this. Go back to "how many things are we comparing?" and to the four odd words.
- Spelling mistakes are rows three and four. Your child has understood the comparing perfectly and slipped on the letters. Point at the last two letters of the base word and let them fix it themselves.
There is one more worth watching for, though it is rarer: a child who writes funnier when the sentence compares nothing at all, as in That story was funnier with no than anywhere. That is a child who has decided comparing endings are simply what adjectives look like in Class 2. Ask them "funnier than what?" and the confusion usually clears in one conversation.
Never mark these with a cross alone. A cross next to biger and a cross next to goodest look identical on the page and mean completely different things. Write the base word in the margin instead, big or good, and let your child try again from there.
Answer keys for all three sheets
Every exercise on all three sheets is answered below. Most have one right answer. The exercise where your child writes a describing word of their own is marked open, because a child who can only tick the expected box has not learned to describe anything, so that one says what counts as correct and lists the words children usually give.
Worksheet 1: Describing Words at Class 2 Level
Exercise 1: Underline the describing word in each sentence
- a. heavy (Ishaan carried a heavy bag to the school bus.)
- b. cold (The water in the well was very cold. This one sits after was.)
- c. round (Nithya found a round stone near the river bank.)
- d. hot (The rice was hot when we sat down to eat. Also after was.)
Exercise 2: Write each describing word in the right box
- How it looks: purple, dusty, shiny
- How it feels or tastes: sour, sticky, cold
- How many: seven, few, many
Exercise 3: Choose the best describing word from the box
- a. The train to Chennai was very crowded on Sunday.
- b. The mango from our garden tasted very sweet.
- c. The library went silent when the bell rang.
- d. Be careful, that knife has a sharp edge.
Exercise 4: Add a describing word of your own (open)
Mark it right if the word tells you what that naming word is like. The usual answers:
- a. Kabir ate a sweet / big / warm laddoo after his cricket match.
- b. We saw a huge / grey / tired elephant at the temple gate.
- c. The heavy / cold / noisy rain fell all night on our roof.
- d. Zoya wrote her name in big / neat / blue letters on the board.
Worksheet 2: Comparing With -er and -est
Exercise 1: Write the two comparing forms
- a. tall, taller, tallest (just add the endings)
- b. big, bigger, biggest (the g gets a twin)
- c. happy, happier, happiest (the y turns into an i)
- d. large, larger, largest (only r and st, the e is already there)
- e. hot, hotter, hottest (the t gets a twin)
- f. easy, easier, easiest (the y turns into an i)
Exercise 2: Circle the correct word
- a. taller (two brothers, so the -er form)
- b. heaviest (all six boxes, so the -est form)
- c. hotter (never more hot, hot is a short word)
- d. best (a whole class, and good never takes -est)
Exercise 3: Fix the one wrong word in each sentence
- a. heavier (more heavier compares twice)
- b. best (good, better, best, and goodest is not a word)
- c. longer (long ends in two consonants, so nothing doubles)
- d. happiest (the y turns into an i)
Exercise 4: Draw a line from each word to its spelling rule
- fat goes to double the last letter (fatter, fattest)
- tidy goes to change the y to an i (tidier, tidiest)
- nice goes to add only r and st (nicer, nicest)
- cold goes to just add er and est (colder, coldest)
Worksheet 3: Comparing, Quantity and a Passage
Exercise 1: Write the correct form of the word in brackets
- a. The Ganga is longer than the Yamuna. (two rivers)
- b. Sneha is the youngest child in her family. (three or more)
- c. Today the sun feels hotter than it did yesterday. (the t gets a twin)
- d. That was the funniest story in the whole book. (the y turns into an i)
Exercise 2: Choose the right quantity word
- a. Only a few mangoes were left on the tree. (you can count mangoes)
- b. Please put a little sugar in my milk. (you cannot count sugar)
- c. How much water is left in the pot? (you cannot count water)
- d. Many children came to the sports day this year. (you can count children)
Exercise 3: Underline the describing word, then write B or A
- a. wooden, B (before the naming word gate)
- b. salty, A (after the verb was)
- c. loud, B (before the naming word clap)
- d. expensive, A (after the verb looked)
Exercise 4: Underline every describing word in the story
There are eight, in this order:
- long race, faster than Kabir, fastest of all, a few parents
- hot sun, three medals, big cup, the happiest day
Six or seven out of eight is a good score at this age. The two most often missed are three, because it looks like a number rather than a describing word, and faster, because the comparing ending is small and easy to read past.
Reading the score, not just counting it
Where the marks were lost tells you more than how many were lost. This is the quickest way to turn a marked sheet into next week's ten minutes.
| Where it went wrong | What it usually means | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Sheet 2, exercise 1 | The spelling rules have not settled | Redo the four odd rows out loud, pointing at the last two letters each time |
| Sheet 2, exercise 2 or 3 | The meaning has not settled, not the spelling | Go back to "how many are we comparing?" before any more written work |
| Sheet 1, parts b and d | Your child is still hunting only in front of the naming word | Play the flip-it-out-loud game from the section above |
| Sheet 3, exercise 2 | Countable and uncountable is not clear yet | Try counting five things out loud at the dinner table |
| Sheet 3, exercise 4 | Often reading, not grammar | Have your child read the passage aloud and listen for stumbles |
Mark it together, not alone. For anything wrong, ask "why did you pick that word?" before you say anything else. A child who wrote biger and a child who wrote goodest both lost one mark, and they need two completely different five minute conversations. Their answer tells you which one inside a few seconds.
The sheet can be marked. It cannot hear your child read it
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Frequently asked questions
An adjective is a describing word. It tells you what a naming word is like: its colour, size, shape, taste, or how many there are. In Class 2 your child also learns to compare with it. Tall becomes taller when two things are compared, and tallest when three or more are. The word can sit before the naming word or after the verb.
Most short words just take er and est, as in tall, taller, tallest. A word ending in e takes only r and st, so large becomes larger and largest. When a short word ends in one vowel and then one consonant, double that last letter: big, bigger, biggest. When it ends in y, change the y to an i: happy, happier, happiest.
Because it compares twice. English lets you compare in one of two ways: add er to a short word, or put more in front of a long one. Taller already carries the comparison, so more in front of it repeats the job. The same mistake makes more better and most tallest wrong. Say taller, better, and most careful instead.
Use many and few for things you can count one by one: many mangoes, few children, a few coins. Use much and a little for things you cannot count separately: much water, a little sugar, a little milk. The quickest test at home is to try counting the thing out loud. If you can say two of them, it takes many.
Yes, and Class 2 papers ask for it often. In the mango is sweet, the word sweet describes the mango even though it stands after is. The same happens after was, were, looks, feels, tastes, smells and sounds. A child taught only that adjectives come before the naming word will read past these and lose easy marks.
Yes. All three sheets are answered in full on this page, exercise by exercise, so you can mark them straight away without hunting for a separate solutions file. The exercises where your child writes a describing word of their own are covered too. Instead of one right answer they say what counts as correct, and list the words children usually give.