Degrees of Comparison

There are three degrees of comparison: positive (or absolute), comparative and superlative. There are three ways of forming the comparative and the superlative degrees: synthetic, analytical and suppletive.

Synthetic: by adding the suffix –er to the comparative degree and the suffix  -est to the superlative degree.

Types of adjectives forming their degrees of comparison in a synthetic way:

1) monosyllabic: great ― greater ― greatest;

2) disyllabic: ending in –y: lovely ― lovelier ― loveliest;

-ow: narrow ― narrower ― narrowest;

-le: simple ― simpler ― simplest;

-er: clever ― cleverer ― cleverest;

-some: handsome ― handsomer ― handsomest;

Analytical: the comparative degree is formed by adding the word more, the superlative ― most: careful ― more careful ― most careful; personal ― more personal ― most personal; tired ― more tired ― most tired

Suppletive (Irregular):

good ― better ― best; bad ― worse ― worst; little ― less ― least;

many ― more ― most;

near ― nearer ― nearest (for distance) // next (for time);

far ― farther ― farthest (for distance) // further ― furthest (for time & distance);

old ― older ― oldest (for age) // elder ― eldest (for seniority);

late ― later ― latest (for time) // last (for order);

Comparison of compounds.

Compound adjectives can be inflected in two ways:

1) the first element is inflected if it is an adjective or an adverb (regular with well-): well-known — better-known — best-known;

2) an analytical way: kind-hearted — more kind-hearted — most kind-hearted.

The following adjectives do not form degrees of comparison:

1. Limiting qualitative adjectives which single out or determine the type of things or persons, such as: previous, middle, left, childless, medical, dead, etc.

2. Relative adjectives such as: wooden, woolen, leathern.

3. Adjectives with comparative and superlative meaning which are of Latin origin: former, inner, upper, junior, senior, prior, superior, minimal, etc.

Word combinations with less and least are not considered to be analytical forms of degrees of comparison. Remember the phrase ― the lesser of two evils, lesser is not a comparative degree but an adjective meaning ‘not as great as other(s)’.

Patterns of Comparison

Apart from morphological ways of denoting gradation of quality, there are some sentence patterns in which comparison is expressed.

MEANING	PATTERN	EXAMPLE
P O S I T I V E D E G R E E
equality	as… as	If a stupid woman marries a smart man she will become as sharp as he is.
inequality	not as… as	Her car is not nearly as economical as mine
	not so… as	She is not so tall as he is. He is not so clever.
	twice as… as	A mile is just one and a half times as long as a kilometer.
excess	too + Adj [+ Inf]	The grass is too short [to cut / for me to cut it].
sufficiency	Adj + enough [+ Inf]	He’s rich enough [to own a car / for me to marry him].
C O M P A R A T I V E D E G R E E
parallel increase/ decrease	the –er… the -er	The more dangerous it is the more I like it.
	… -er as…	He became more cautious as he grew older.
		The less I study the less I know.
inferiority	less + Adj… than	John is less naughty than his sister
superiority	… -er than	She is quieter than he is.
	twice –er than	This task is twice easier than that one. The tower is 3 times taller than the house.
	-er than it is + Adj	The room is longer than it is wide.
	the –er of the two Of the two… the -er	Jack is the taller of the two. Of the two boys, John behaves the more politely.
S U P E R L A T I V E D E G R E E
inferiority	the least… of/…	She is the least tolerant person I’ve ever met.
superiority	the –est of/in/ever/ that…	Edward is the youngest of all / in the family / ever elected president / that I’ve ever taught.
	Of the three… the -est	Of the three boys, Bob behaves the most politely.
	the second –est of	Ann is the second oldest of the children.

Note the following patterns introduced by “more of a”, “as much of a”, “less of a”, etc.:

He is more of a sportsman than his father.

It was as much of a success as I expected (it would be).

You are less of a fool than I thought (you were).

He was enough of a man to tell the truth.

He is too much of a coward to go there.

Pay attention to the following set expressions:

a change for the better (for the worse) ― перемена к лучшему (худшему)

so much the better (the worse) ― тем лучше (хуже)

·· none the worse for ― ничуть не хуже от…

if the worst comes to the worst ― в худшем случае

· to go from bad to worse ― становиться все хуже и хуже

· as best as ― в полную меру старания

· at best, at worst ― в лучшем случае, в худшем случае

· none the less ― тем не менее

· in the near future ― в ближайшем будущем

· the younger generation ― молодое поколение

· In the last / past few days / weeks / months / years ― за последние дни / недели / месяцы / годы

· with every passing day / year / month ― с каждым днем / годом / месяцем