Comparison

Degree of comparison

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In English grammar, the degree of comparison of an adjective or adverb describes the relational value of one thing with something in another clause of a sentence. An adjective may simply describe a quality, (the positive); it may compare the quality with that of another of its kind (comparative degree); and it may compare the quality with many or all others (superlative degree). In other languages it may describe a very large degree of a particular quality (in Semitic linguistics, called an elative).

The degree of comparison may be expressed morphologically or syntactically. In English, for example, most monosyllabic and some disyllabic adjectives have morphological degrees of comparison: green (positive), greener (comparative), greenest (superlative); pretty, prettier, prettiest; while most polysyllabic adjectives use syntax: complex, more complex, most complex.

1. The positive degree is the most basic form of the adjective, positive because it does not relate to any superior or inferior qualities of other things in speech.
2. The comparative degree denotes a greater amount of a quality relative to something else. The phrase “Anna is taller than her father” means that Anna's degree of tallness is greater than her father's degree of tallness.
3. The superlative degree denotes the most, the largest, etc., by which it differs from other things.

Rhetorical use of unbalanced comparatives

In some contexts, such as advertising or political speeches, absolute and relative comparatives are intentionally employed in a way that invites a comparison, and yet the basis of comparison is not established. This is a common rhetorical device used to create an implication of significance where one may not actually be present. Although such usage is common, it is sometimes considered ungrammatical

For example:

• Always!
• Why pay more?
• We work harder.
• We sell for less!

English usage

Traditional English grammar uses the comparative form when comparing exactly two things, and the superlative when comparing three or more, but in informal usage this may not hold. For instance, the phrase "May the best man win" may be used even when there are only two individuals competing; in traditional usage the correct phrase when there are two contestants would be "May the better man win".

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Good	Better	Best
Beautiful	More Beautiful	Most Beautiful
Big	Bigger	Biggest
Tall	Taller	Tallest
Sincere	More Sincere	Most Sincere
Small	Smaller	Smallest

 

Comparison (grammar)

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See also: Comparison of adjectives and Comparative

Comparison, in grammar, is a property of adjectives and adverbs in most languages; it describes systems that distinguish the degree to which the modifier modifies its complement.

English, due to the complex etymology of its lexicon, has two parallel systems of comparison. One involves the suffixes -er (the "comparative") and -est (the "superlative"). These inflections are of Germanic origin, and are cognate with the Latin suffixes -ior and -issimus. They are typically added to shorter words, words of Anglo-Saxon origin, and borrowed words that have been fully assimilated into the English vocabulary. Usually the words that take these inflections have fewer than three syllables. This system contains a number of irregular forms, some of which, like good, better, best, contain suppletive forms. These irregular forms include:

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	best
well	better	best
bad	worse	worst
far	farther	farthest
far	further	furthest
little	smaller, less(er)	smallest, least
many, much	more	most

more and most

The second system of comparison in English appends the grammatical particles more and most, themselves the irregular comparatives of many, to the adjective or adverb being modified. This series can be compared to a system containing the diminutives less and least.

This system is most commonly used with words of French or Latin derivation; adjectives and adverbs formed with suffixes other than -ly (e.g. beautiful); and with longer, technical, or infrequently used words. Knowing which words fall into which system is a highly idiomatic issue in English syntax. Some words require the suffixing system: e.g. taller is required; *more tall is not idiomatic English.

Some words (e.g. difficult) require more and most. Some words (e.g. polite) can be used with either system; curiously, while polite can go either way, the derived word impolite requires more and most.

The general rule is that words with one syllable require the suffix, words with three or more syllables require more or most and words with two syllables can go either way.

Absolute adjectives

A perennial issue in English usage involves the comparison of so-called "absolute" adjectives, adjectives that logically do not seem to admit of comparison. There are many such adjectives — generally adjectives that name qualities that are either present or absent: nothing is *"more Cretaceous" or *"more igneous" than anything else.

Other examples include perfect, unique, and parallel, which name qualities that are inherently superlative: if something is perfect, there can be nothing better, so it does not make sense to describe one thing as *"more perfect" than something else; if something is unique, it is one of a kind, so something cannot be *"very unique", or *"more unique" than something else. See also tautology (rhetoric) and pleonasm.

In general, terms like perfect and parallel cannot ever apply exactly to things in real life, so they are commonly used to mean nearly perfect, nearly parallel, and so on; and in this (inexact) use, more perfect (i.e., more nearly perfect, closer to perfect) and more parallel (i.e., more nearly parallel, closer to parallel) do seem to make sense.
 

Exercise 21-30

EXERCISE 21: CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

Supply the correct form of the verb in parentheses for each of the following sentences. Review the formulas if you have trouble.

1. Henry talks to his dog as if it understood  (understand) him.

2. If they had left the House earlier, they would not have been (be;negative) so late getting to the airport that they could not check their baggage.

3. If I finish the dress before Saturday, I will give (give) it to my sister for her birthday.

4. If I had seen the movie, I would tell  (tell) you about it last night.

5. Had bob not interfered in his sister’s marital problems, there would have been (be) peace between them.

6. He would give you the money if he had (have) it.

7. I wish they stopped (stop) making so much noise so that I could concentrate.

8. She would call you immediately if she needed  (need) help.

9. Had they arrived at the sale early, they would have found (find) a better selection.

10. We hope that you enjoyed (enjoy) the party last night.

11. If you have enough time, please paint (paint) the chair before you leave.

12. We could go for a drive if today were (be) saturday.

13. If she wins the prize, it will be because she writes (write) very well.

14. Mike wished that the editors had permitted  (permit) him to copy some of their material.

15. Joel wishes that he had spent (spend) his vacation on the gulf coast next year.

16. I will (accept) if they invite me to the party.

17. If your mother buys (buy) that car for you, will you be happy?

18. If he had decided (dedice) earlier, he could have left on the afternoon flight.

19. Had we known your address, we would have written (write) you a letter.

20. If the roofer doesn’t come soon, the rain will (leak) inside.

21. Because rose did so poorly on the exam, she wishes that she had studied (study) harder last night.

22. My dog always wakes me up if he hears (hear) strange noises.

23. If you see (see) marry today, please ask her to call me.

24. If he gets (get) the raise, it will be because he does a good job.

25. The teacher will not accept our work if we turn (trun) it in late.

26. Mrs. Wood always talks to her tenth-grade student as though they were (be) adults.

27. If he had left already, he would have called (call) us.

28. If they had known him, they would have talked (talk) to him.

29. He would understand it if you explained (explain) it to him more slowly.

30. I could understand the French teacher if she spoke (speak) more slowly.

EXERCISE 22: USED TO

Supply the simple form or (verb + ing) as required in the following sentences:

1.      I was used to  eating (eat) at noon when I started school.

2.      He used to eat (eat) dinner at five o’clock.

3.      When I was young, I used to swim (swim) every day.

4.      He used to like (like) her, but he doesn’t anymore.

5.      Don’t worry. Some day you will get used to speaking (speak) English.

6.      Alvaro can’t get use to studying (study).

7.      He used to dance (dance) every night, but now he studies.

8.      Adam is used to sleeping (sleep) late on weekends.

9.      Chicko is used to eating (eat) American food now.

10.  She finally got used to eating (eat) our food.

EXERCISE 26 : ADJECTIVE AND ADVERBS

Circle the correct form parentheses.

1.   Rita plays the violin well (good/well).

2.   That is an intense (intense/intensely) novel.

3.   The sun is shining brightly (bright/brightly).

4.   The girls speak fluent (fluent/fluently) French.

5.   The boys speak Spanish fluently ((fluent/fluently).

6.   The table has a smooth (smooth/smoothly) surface.

7.   We must figure our income tax returns accurately (accurate/accurately).

8.   We don't like to drink bitter (bitter/bitterly) tea.

9.   The plane will arrive soon (soon/sonly).

10. He had an accident because he was driving too fast (fast/fastly).

EXERCISE 27 : LINKING (copulative) VERBS

Circle the correct form parentheses.

1. Your cold sounds terrible (terrible/terribly).

2. The pianist plays very well (good/well).

3. The food in the restaurant always tasted good (good/well).

4. The campers remained calm (calm/calmly) despite the thunderstrom.

5. They became sick (sick/sickly) after eating the contaminated food.

6. Professor Calandra looked quickly (quick/quickly) at the students sketches.

7. Paco was working diligently (diligent/diligently) on the project.

8. Paul protested vehemently (vehement/vehemently) about the new proposals.

9. Our neighbors appeared relaxed (relaxed/relaxedly) after their vacation.

10. The music sounded too noisy (noisy/noisily) to be classical.

EXERCISE 28: COMPARISONS

            Supply the correct form of the adjective and adverbs in parenthese. Let as and be your clues. Add any other words that may be necessary.

1. John an his friends left as soon (soon) as the professor had finished his lecture.

2. His job is more important (important) than his friend's.

3. He plays the guitar as well (well) as Andreas Segovia

4. A new house is much more expensive (expensive) than an older one.

5. Last week was as hot (hot) as this week.

6. Martha is more talented (talented) than her cousin.

7. Bill's descriptions are more colorful (colorful) than this wife's.

8. Nobody is happier (happy) than Maria Elena.

9. The boys felt worse (bad) than the girls about losing the game.

10. A greyhound runs faster (fast) than a Chihuahua.

EXECERCISE 29 : COMPARISONS

Supply than, as, or form in each of the following sentances.

1. The Empire State Building is taller than the Statue of Liberty.

2. California is farther from New York than Pennsylvania.

3. Hi assignment is different from mine.

4. Louie reads more quickly than his sisters.

5. No animal is so big as King Kong.

6. Than report is less impressive than the government's.

7. Sam wears the same shirt as his teammates.

8. Dave paints much more realistically than his professor.

9. The twins have less money at the end of the month than they have at the beginning.

10. Her sports car is different from Nancy's.

EXERCISE 30: COMPARISONS

Select the correct form in parentheses in the following sentences

1. Of the four dresses, i like the red one better (better/best).

2. Phil is the happiest (happier/happiest) person we know.

3. Pat's car is faster (faster/fastest) than Dan's.

4. This is the creamiest (creamier/creamiest) ice cream i have had in long time.

5. This poster is more colorful (colorfuler/more colorful)than the one in the hall.

6. Does Fred feel better (weller/better) today than he did yesterday?

7. This vegetable soup tastes very good (good/well).

8. While trying to balance the baskets on her head, the woman walk more awkwardly (awkwarder/more awkwardly) than her daughter.

9. Jane is the least (less/least) athletic of all the woman.

10. My cat is the prettier (prettier/prettiest) of the two.

11. This summary is the best (the better/the best) of the pair.

12. Your heritage is different from (from/than) mine.

13. This painting is less impressive (less impressive/leas impressive) than the one in the other gallery.

14. The colder the weather gets, the sicker (sicker/the sicker) i feel.

15. No sooner had he received the letter than (when/ than) he called Maria.

16. A mink coat costs twice more than (twice more than/twice as much as) a sable coat.

17. Jim has a few (little/few) opportunities to play tennis as I.

18. That recipe calls for much (many/much) more sugar than mine does.

19. The museum is the farthest (farther/farthest) away of the three buildings.

20. George Washington is more famous (famouser/more famous) than John Jay.