UNIT 4           COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

The only grammatical category that English adjectives have is the degrees of comparison. The plain stem of an adjective (slow) is called the positive form. To compare two persons, places, or things they use the comparative form (slower) and to compare more than two persons, places, or things they use the superlative form(the slowest).

1.There are three regularways of forming the comparative and the superlative degrees:

1) Most one-syllable adjectives (small) add the suffix -er for the comparative form: The rabbit was smaller than the hat. For the superlative form this kind of adjectives add -est: That was the smallest rabbit I’ve seen.

2) Some two-syllable adjectives ending in -er, -ow, -y, -le (clever, narrow, happy, simple) as well as having a stress on the last syllable (polite, complete) may have two comparative and two superlative forms: with -er/-est and with more/the most, for e.g.: This street is narrower/more narrow. This task issimpler/more simple. This time his answer was politer/more polite. This is the cleverest/the most cleverdecision. This is the narrowest /the most narrow street. This is the happiest/the most happy man. This is the simplest/the most simple task. The politest/the most polite answer was offered by him.

3) Other adjectives of two and all adjectives of more than two syllables form the comparative and superlativeforms by the use of the auxiliary adverbs more(or less)and the most (or the least): beautiful– morebeautiful – the mostbeautiful.

2. Some adjectives are irregular, their comparatives and superlatives are formed in a special way:

Positive                 Comparative   Superlative

Good (well)            better                 the best

Bad                        worse                 the worst

Little                       less                    the least

Many (much)          more                  the most

Far                          farther                farthest

                              further                the furthest

NOTE 1.Fartherrefers to a greater physical distance (go farther).

Furtherrefers mostly to a greater degree, time, or quality (further details).

Old                        older                          the oldest

Elder                          the eldest

NOTE 2.Elder and eldestare used chiefly of people, and then almost exclusively of family relationship (my elder brother, his eldestsister but She is the oldest in the family). Older(not elder) is used with than(She is older than I am).

Late                      later                   the latest

                              latter                          the last

NOTE 3.Latter as well as later means ‘nearer to the end' (The latteryears of his life). Latter also refers to ‘the second of two’ (Of the pig and the cow, the latter animal is more valuable).

Lastmeans ‘final’ (his famous last words). It can also mean ‘next before the present’ (This is better than his lastfilm.). But to avoid misunderstanding to mean ‘next before the present’ a clearer word like previousor latestshould be used (Her latest, but not we hope last, book).