Comparative adjectives have real grammar rules - more is not better

(Image by David Buck)

Comparative forms of adjectives compare two or more things (nouns). When media moguls describe a presidential candiate as more friendly, more tall, or more smart than another, my teeth grind. There are real rules, not options or guidelines, for forming comparatives per The Chicago Manual of Style.

Listen up, American journalists! 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, whacky, or dumpy, change the y to i and smack on an er. (crappier, whackier)
• 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 whackiest 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?