-er/-est

This one is fairly similar to yesterday's post about "among" and "between." It's just a matter of how many people, things, etc. to which you refer.

You're going to learn a couple new terms here also, so just deal with it and keep reading.

When you use an adjective ending with -er, you're using the comparative form. This means you're comparing only two things. So if you have a set of twins and ask someone, "Which one do you think is cutest?" it means you've got another kid hidden somewhere. What you really want to know is which one is the "cuter" of the two. It's entirely possible that neither is, but that's a different story.

There's one more term of significance here. When you add -est to an adjective, you're using the superlative form. You use adjectives such as "heaviest," "ugliest," "cutest" when referring to three or more.

While we're at it, don't EVER say "most ugliest" or "more cuter." It's horribly redundant. You people and your redundancies. "Most beautiful" and "more laughable" are the comparative and superlative forms as well.

So there. Not only do you have this straight now, but also you have two new words to throw around to make your friends think you're intelligent. . .but please use them correctly. It's "most annoying" when you don't.