Adjectives: Degrees of comparisons (reveiw)

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You remember that adjectives are the words which help us describe different objects.

There are three degrees of comparison of adjectives: the positive, the comparative and the superlative.

The positive degree is a simple form of the adjective.

There are four different kinds of adjectives in its positive degree:

one-syllable adjectives: slight / loud / red

two-syllable adjectives: happy / dirty / shallow

adjectives of more than two syllables: talkative / exciting / intelligent

and finally – irregular adjectives: good / bad / much / many.

Let’s have a look at this situation:

Tommy: What is redder than a tomato, louder than a roaring lion and blows off more steam than a kettle?

Martin: I haven’t the slightest idea.

Easy, my mum.

Tommy! Clean up your room! It’s the dirtiest place in the world!

The words redder, louder and more are called comparatives.

The comparative degree is used to compare two people or things.

The slightest, the dirtiest are the superlatives.

The superlative degree is used when more than two people or things are compared.

Now let’s revise the main rules of formation of the comparative degree.

Adjectives of one-syllable and two-syllable adjectives ending in –er, –y, -ly, -w add

·                   -(e)r to the adjective plus than (чем)

For example:

Martin’s drums are loud. Tom’s guitar isn’t so loud.

So the comparative sentence would look like this:

Martin’s drums are louder (than Tom’s guitar).

For adjectives of two or more syllables use:

·                   more/less plus adjective plus than

Have a look at these words. They are too long to add suffixes:

intelligent, important, wonderful, comfortable, interesting

For example:

This sports car is expensive. That car isn’t so expensive.

So the comparative sentence would look like this:

This sports car is more expensive (than that car). or

That car is less expensive than this sports car.

Spelling

So it’s time to focus on the spelling of the adjectives.

Here are some more examples of one-syllable adjectives:

tall – taller

short – shorter

hot – hotter

cold - colder

warm – warmer

low – lower

pretty - prettier

wet – wetter

dry – drier

white – whiter

big – bigger

ugly – uglier

busy - busier

Pay attention to the words hot, wet and big. When a word ends with a single vowel and a single consonant, double the consonant when adding –er.

When a word ends with “y”, it changes to an “i” when adding –er: dry – drier.

When a word ends in “e”, it is deleted when adding –er: white-whiter.

Well, that was the comparative form of the adjective. Now it’s time to look at the superlative form.

Doctor: Open your mouth, please. Ah, you’ve got the biggest cavity I’ve ever seen!

Tommy: Don’t keep repeating it!

Doctor: I didn’t – that was an echo!

The biggest is the superlative.

The superlative degree is used when more than two people or things are compared.

Formation

The superlative form adds –est to the adjective. Always use “the” in front of the adjective.

For example:

The Earth is warm.        The Mercury is warmer.          The Venus is the warmest.

Two – more syllable adjectives take the most.

For example:

The Ferries wheel  is frightening.  The haunted house is more frightening. The roller coaster is the most frightening.

The spelling rules for the comparative form also apply to the superlative form.

tall – taller – the tallest

short – shorter – the shortest

hot – hotter – the hottest

cold – colder – the coldest

warm – warmer – the warmest

low – lower – the lowest

high – higher – the highest

wet – wetter – the wettest

dry – drier – the driest

big – bigger – the biggest

white – whiter – the whitest

But every rule has its exceptions.

There are some adjectives which have irregular comparatives and superlatives. They are:

good – better – the best

хороший - лучше - самый лучший

bad – worse – the worst

плохой – хуже – самый худший

much/many/a lot of – more – the most

много – больше – наибольший (больше всего)

little – less – the least

маленький – меньше – самый маленький

far – farther/or further– the farthest /or the furthest

далеко – дальше – самый далекий

Remember that the comparatives and superlatives of the word “far” are quite similar, and may be interchangeable in many cases. But if we speak about physical distance, we normally use farther.

And if we want to speak about more, additional, we’d better use “further”.

It’s time to practice the rule. Complete the table:

1. The Mona Liza is the most valuable painting in the world.

2. Recycling is very important to help protect the environment.

3. February is shorter than September.

4. My dad drives faster than my mum.

5. Rock climbing is more dangerous than cycling.

6. Martin is the best at football in the class.

Complete the sentences. Use positive, comparative or superlative adjectives.

That`s all for today.

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