Adjectives

Positive	Comparative
Superlative
rich	richer	richest
lovely	lovelier	loveliest
beautiful	more beautiful	most beautiful

Certain adjectives have irregular forms in the comparative and superlative degrees:

Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms
good	better	best
bad	worse	worst
little	less	least
much many some	more	most
far	further	furthest

Be careful not to form comparatives or superlatives of adjectives which already express an extreme of comparison — unique, for instance — although it probably is possible to form comparative forms of most adjectives: something can be more perfect, and someone can have a fuller figure. People who argue that one woman cannot be more pregnant than another have never been nine-months pregnant with twins.

Grammar's Response
According to Bryan Garner, "complete" is one of those adjectives that does not admit of comparative degrees. We could say, however, "more nearly complete." I am sure that I have not been consistent in my application of this principle in the Guide (I can hear myself, now, saying something like "less adequate" or "more preferable" or "less fatal"). Other adjectives that Garner would include in this list are as follows:

absolute	impossible	principal
adequate	inevitable	stationary
chief	irrevocable	sufficient
complete	main	unanimous
devoid	manifest	unavoidable
entire	minor	unbroken
fatal	paramount	unique
final	perpetual	universal
ideal	preferable	whole

From The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Styleby Bryan Garner. Copyright 1995 by Bryan A. Garner. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc., www.oup-usa.org, and used with the gracious consent of Oxford University Press.

Be careful, also, not to use more along with a comparative adjective formed with -er nor to use most along with a superlative adjective formed with -est (e.g., do not write that something is more heavier or most heaviest).

The as — as construction is used to create a comparison expressing equality:

• 
  He is as foolish as he is large.
  
• 
  She is as bright as her mother.
  

Premodifiers with Degrees of Adjectives

Both adverbs and adjectives in their comparative and superlative forms can be accompanied by premodifiers, single words and phrases, that intensify the degree.

• 
  We were a lot more careful this time.
  
• 
  He works a lot less carefully than the other jeweler in town.
  
• 
  We like his work so much better.
  
• 
  You'll get your watch back all the faster.
  

The same process can be used to downplay the degree:

• 
  The weather this week has been somewhat better.
  
• 
  He approaches his schoolwork a little less industriously than his brother does.
  

And sometimes a set phrase, usually an informal noun phrase, is used for this purpose:

• 
  He arrived a whole lot sooner than we expected.
  
• 
  That's a heck of a lot better.
  

If the intensifier very accompanies the superlative, a determiner is also required:

• 
  She is wearing her very finest outfit for the interview.
  
• 
  They're doing the very best they can.
  

Occasionally, the comparative or superlative form appears with a determiner and the thing being modified is understood:

• 
  Of all the wines produced in Connecticut, I like this one the most.
  
• 
  The quicker you finish this project, the better.
  
• 
  Of the two brothers, he is by far the faster.
  

Authority for this section: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. Used with permission.

Less versus Fewer

When making a comparison between quantities we often have to make a choice between the words fewer and less. Generally, when we're talking about countable things, we use the word fewer; when we're talking about measurable quantities that we cannot count, we use the word less. "She had fewer chores, but she also had less energy." The managers at our local Stop & Shop seem to have mastered this: they've changed the signs at the so-called express lanes from "Twelve Items or Less" to "Twelve Items or Fewer." Whether that's an actual improvement, we'll leave up to you. We do, however, definitely use less when referring to statistical or numerical expressions: It's less than twenty miles to Dallas. He's less than six feet tall. Your essay should be a thousand words or less. We spent less than forty dollars on our trip. The town spent less than four percent of its budget on snow removal. In these situations, it's possible to regard the quantities as sums of countable measures.