Degrees of Comparison

ENG102
NEH
  Degrees of comparison
Unit Objectives:
 Students will build on basic knowledge of Adjective and its
degrees.
 Students will identify adjectives on a sentence and compare
between different degrees and the variation of their meaning.
 Students will apply the correct form of degree based on the
necessity.
 Students will form knowledge of additional forms of
Adjectives.
 Degrees of Comparison
Degrees of Comparison are used when we compare one person or one
thing with another.

There are three Degrees of Comparison in English.

1. Positive degree. 2. Comparative degree. 3. Superlative degree.

Positive dark tall useful

Comparative darker taller more useful
Superlative darkest tallest most useful
Comparative and Superlative:
# When comparing only two things, we use the comparative forms:
Jill is the shorter of the two children.
Jack is the taller of the two children.
Jill is shorter than Jack.
Jack is taller than Jill.
# When comparing more than two objects, we use superlative forms tallest, most
useful, least tall, etc.:
Susan is the tallest of the three.
Jill is the shortest of the three.
Tourism is our most important industry.
Things were being done in the least efficient way.
 Comparative and Superlative
(a) "A* is older than "B." The comparative compares this to that or these to
those.
@) "A" and "B" are older than "C" and "D."
Form: -er or more. (See Chart 9-3.)
(c) Ed is more generous than his brother.
Notice: A comparative is followed by than.

(d) "A," "B," "C," and "D" are sisters. "A" is the The superlative compares one part of a whole
oldest of all four sisters. group to all the rest of the group. Form: -est or
most.
(e) A woman in Turkey claims to be the oldest
person in the world. Notice: A superlative begins with the.

(f) Ed is the most generous person in his family.

N.B. Comparison is expressed either by the endings –er and –est or by the words more and most
before the adjectives or adverbs.
 A. How to form Comparison of adjectives:
● Comparison with the endings –r/er/ ier and st/ est is generally used with short adjectives:
⮚ Usually one-syllable adjectives:
Great –greater-greatest, short-shorter-shortest, big-bigger-biggest
⮚ Many two-syllable adjectives, especially those ending in –y, -ow, -le, and –er:
Easy-easier-easiest; also: early, happy, healthy, pretty, etc.
Narrow-narrower-narrowest; also: mellow, shallow, etc.
Able- abler- ablest; also: feeble, gentle, humble, noble, simple, etc.
Clever-cleverer-cleverest; also: bitter, slender, etc.
● Long adjectives (awkward, possible, hopeful, useful, etc.) including –ed adjectives
(interested etc. ) and ing adjectives (interesting, etc.) form comparison with more and
most:
I find my new work more challenging and more interesting.
This is one of the most beautiful places in the area.
 
 B. How to form Comparison of adverbs:
Adverbs have the same general rules of comparison as adjectives.
quickly- more quickly- most quickly
As with adjectives, there is a small group of adverbs with irregular
comparison:
well- better- best
much- more- most
little- less- least
far- further- furthest or far- farther- farthest
EXERCISE 1. Superlatives.
Direction: Complete the sentences with superlatives and the appropriate preposition, “in”
or “of”.
1. Jack is lazy. He is the laziest student in the class.
2. Mike and Julie were nervous, but Amanda was the most nervous of all.
3. Costa Rico is beautiful. It is one of the ……most beautiful …….countries …in/of…the world.
4. Scott got a bad score in the test. It was one of the worst___scores…in/of….the whole school
5. Pluto is far from the sun. In fact, it is _the farthest__planet from the sun _of__ our solar
system.
6. There are a lot of good cooks in my family, but my mom is the best__cook___of_ all.
7. Alaska is big. It is the _biggest__state __of/in__the United States.
8. My grandfather is very old. He is the oldest__person _of/in__the town where he lives.
9. That chair in the corner is comfortable. It is the _most comforable____chair in/of_the room.
EXERCISE 3. Review of Comparatives and Superlatives.
Directions: Complete the sentences. Use any appropriate form of the words in parentheses and
add any other necessary words. There may be more than one possible completion.
1. Lead is a very heavy metal. It is (heavy) …heavier than…..gold or silver.
It is one of (heavy) the heaviest……..metals of……all.
2. Dogs are usually (friendly) __more friendly than____cats.
3. One of (famous) the most famous……..volcanoes _of___ the world is Mount Etna in Sicily.
4. Mrs. Cook didn't ask the children to clean up the kitchen. It was (easy)__easier......
for her to do it herself__than____ to nag them to do it.
5. Duck eggs and chicken eggs are different. Duck eggs are (large)__larger than____chicken
eggs. Also, the yolk of a duck egg is (dark) _.darker than.............the yolk of a chicken egg.
6. (important)___The most important___ piece of equipment for bird watching is a pair
of binoculars.
7. Although both jobs are important, being a teacher requires (education) _.....more
education than....._ ……_____being a bus driver.
8. The Great Wall of China is (long)_the longest____structure that has ever been built.
9. Howard Anderson is one of (delightful) __the most delightful___people I've ever
met.
10. (hard)…The harder….. I tried, (impossible)....the more...._____ it seemed to solve
the math problem.
11. Perhaps (common)_the most common____ topic of everyday conversation…in/of…
the world is the weather.
12. World Cup Soccer is (big) _the biggest___sporting event __of/in__ the world.
14. When the temperature stays below freezing for a long period of time, the Eiffel Tower
becomes six inches (fifteen centimeters) (short)__shorter____.
15. Have you ever been bothered by a fly buzzing around you? (easy)___The easiest___way to ge
a fly out of a room is to darken the room and turn on a light somewhere else.
16. Young people have (high)_..the highest.....rate of automobile accidents…of all drivers.
17. The wall of a soap bubble is very, very thin. A human hair is approximately ten thousand times
(thick)___thicker than____ the wall of a soap bubble.
18. English has approximately 600,000 words. Because of the explosion of scientific discoveries
and new technologies, there are (words) more words…. _in English than any other language.
19. You'd better buy the tickets for the show soon. (long)_The longer____ you wait, (difficult)
__the more difficult__ it will be for you to get good seats.
20. No animals can travel (fast)_.faster than.............birds. Birds are (fast) __the
fastest__animals _of__all.
21. Most birds have small eyes, but not ostriches. Indeed, the eye of an ostrich is (large)___larger
than___ its brain.
22. (great)___The greatest__ variety of buds in a single area can be found in the rainforests of
Southeast Asia and India.
The…the… with comparative adjectives
Comparison and contrast are expressed by the use of the…the… with comparative adjectives in parallel clauses.
This structure is used to show proportionate increase or decrease.

Structure: the + comparative adjective + clause + the + comparative adjective + clause

 The more adventurous it is, the more I like it. (NOT The more it is adventurous, the more I like it.)
 The less I see him, the more I like him.
 The more he reads, the less he understands.
 The older we grow, the wiser we become.
 The higher you climb, the colder it gets.
 The richer one grows, the greater one’s worries.
 The less you spend, the more you save.
 The sooner they go, the better it is.
A short form of this structure is used in the expressions ‘the more the merrier’ and ‘…the better’.

 ‘How do you like your coffee?’ ‘The stronger the better.’

 ‘When should I start?’ ‘The earlier the better.’
Note that in this structure, the means ‘by that much’.