Degrees of comparision

Adjectives :
Degrees of Comparison
Dr.T.Ramesh Babu
Assistant Professor (A),
Department of H&SS,
JNTUA College of Engineering
Pulivendula

 The Degrees of Comparison in English grammar are made
with the adjective and adverb words to show how big or
small, high or low, more or less, many or few etc. of the
qualities, numbers and positions of the nouns ( persons,
places and things) in comparison to the mentioned in
another part of a sentence or expression.
 An adjective is a word which qualifies (shows how big or
small, high or low, more or less, many or few etc.) a noun or
a pronoun in a given sentence.

 We can use adjectives to compare objects, animals, people or
ideas [the quality of a particular Noun to that of another
particular Noun]. These are called degrees of comparison
 There are three kinds of Degrees of Comparison in English.
When we use an adjective to describe just one object, person,
etc., we call this the Positive Degree. For example: Rani is
strong. When we use an adjective to compare two objects,
people, etc., we call this the comparative degree.

 An adjective can be attributive ( comes before a noun)
or predicative ( comes under predicate part)
 Eg. Ravi is a tall man.(‘tall-adjective –attributive)
 This man is tall.(‘tall’- adjective predicative)
 An adverb is a word which adds to the meaning of the
main verb (how it is done, when it is done etc.) of a
sentence or expression.
 It normally ends with ‘ly’ but there are some adverbs
that are without ‘ly’.
eg. Rani ate her lunch quickly. Rajesh speaks clearly.
 They write fast.

 We use comparison to convey the thought clearly.
1. We make statement about a person / place/ thing as
matter of fact or it appears.
We make a positive statement. These statements are
said to be in the positive / plain degree.
‘This watermelon is sweet’.
Here, we speak about a watermelon and its quality of
sweetness without indicating how sweet it is.
There is no point of reference.

 2. The other type of statement is when we compare two
things to indicate which is better than the other.
 ‘ This watermelon is sweeter than that watermelon’.
 Here , we have the watermelons and we compare the
sweetness of one against another to convey that ‘this’
watermelon is sweeter than ‘that’ watermelon. Now,
we get a clear picture and we normally will choose the
sweeter watermelon.
 These statements are said to be in ComparativeDegree,
because they compare two persons/places/things.

 A statement that compares two things is said to be
Comparative Degree.
 3. Finally, when we have more than two things to
convey a thought, that one among the many is the
superior among them, we give a different type of
statement. It helps us to choose the best among the
many things. If we have three mangoes, how do we say
which is the best in terms of taste?
 When more than three things are present, if we say
‘This is sweeter, we will find it difficult to understand
to which of the remaining two is ‘sweeter’. Therefore ,
we use ‘Superlative’.

 When more than two persons/places/things are to be
compared, we use a form of statement, that points out
which is the best or superior to other
persons/places/things. These types of statements are
said to be in ‘Superlative Degree’.
 Eg. This is the sweetest watermelon.
 Therefore, there are three types of comparison.
 Positive : When we make an absolute or matter of fact
statement.

 Comparative: When we make a comparison between
two or more persons/places/things .
 Superlative : When we make a statement, when more
than two persons/places/things are involved.
 The three degrees are:
 1) Positive Degree
 2) Comparative Degree
 3) Superlative Degree

 1) Positive Degree:
 The adjective will be in the singular form and it is used
to denote the mere existence of some quality of what we speak
about. It is used where no comparison is made. Plain adjective
(without ‘er’/’est’ or ‘more/most’ not used) should be used.
 Ex: R.K. Narayan is a popular writer.
 Explanation: When the mere quality of a noun is said, the
adjective is said to be in positive degree.

2) Comparative Degree:
 When an Adjective is in comparison in between two Nouns of
the same quality, the adjective is said to be in Comparative Degree.
In the Comparative Degree ‘er’ is added to the adjective. And a
many syllable word takes ‘more’ before it. (Ex: more beautiful, more
important, more interesting etc.)
 NOTE: Article ‘the’ is not used before the adjective in
Comparative Degree.
 Ex: Kolkata is larger than Mumbai.
Cricket is more interesting game than football.

 3) Superlative Degree:
 When the comparison is among more than two
nouns, the adjective is said to be in Superlative
Degree. In Superlative Degree, ‘- est’ is added to the
adjective. If the word has many syllables, the
adjective takes ‘most’ before the adjective. And the
Definite article, ‘the’ is used before the adjective in
Superlative Adjective.
 Ex: the best, the greatest, the most popular.
 Ex: Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world.

 The rules to form comparatives and superlatives:
1. One syllable adjective ending in a silent ‘e’ –nice.
Comparative - add ‘r’ - nicer
Superlative - add ‘st’ – nicest
2. One syllable adjective ending in one vowel and one
consonant –big
Comparative - the consonant is doubled and ‘er’ added
- bigger
Superlative - the consonant is doubled and ‘est’ is
added – biggest.

 3.One syllable adjective ending in more than one
consonant or more than a vowel- high, cheap
Comparative - ‘-er’ is added - higher, cheaper
Superlative - ‘-est’ is added - highest, cheapest
4. A two syllable adjective ending in ‘Y’ – happy
Comparative - ‘y’ becomes ‘i’ and ‘er’ is added - happier
Superlative - ‘y’ becomes ‘i’ and ‘est’ is added -happiest

 5. Two or more syllabled adjectives without ‘y’ at the
end – exciting
Comparative – more+ the adjective + than –more
exciting than
Superlative - most+ the adjective + than – the most
exciting

 Irregular comparatives and superlatives:
 Adjectives Comparatives Superlatives
 bad worse worst
 far ( distance) farther farthest
 far ( extent ) further furthest
 good better best
 little less least
 many more most
 much more most

 INTERCHANGE OF THE DEGREES OF COMPARISON:
 Interchanging the sentences in one degree to another degree:
 To interchange a sentence to another, it is very easy to follow the rules and
regulations. For this, there are 3 models to change positive degree to
comparative or superlative Degree. These 3 models are depended on
structures. Every model has 3 structures except the 3rd model. In the third
model, there is no superlative degree.
 Ex: 1. No Other peak in the world is so high as Mount Everest.
 2.Very few countries in the world are as great as India.
 3. Some cities are at least as big as London.
 4. Italy is not so great as India.

 Models:
 Positive Comparative Superlative
 Model:1 No other... As good as better than any other the best
 Model:2 Very few .... As good as better than most other one of the best
 Model:3 Not so good as better than no superlative
Note: When the comparison is between two. There is no superlative degree.

 (PD: Positive Degree, CD: Comparative Degree, SD: Superlative Degree)
 Model: I
 PD: No other + Singular Noun + Phrase + Singular Verb + So (adjective)
as + Subject
 CD: Subject + Verb + Adjective (er/more) +than any other + Singular Noun
+Phrase
 SD: Subject+ Verb + Definite Article(the) +Adjective (est/most) +Noun +
Phrase
 Ex: 1. No other poet in English is so popular as Shakespeare . (P.D)
 2. The USA is stronger than any other nation in the world. (C.D)
 3.. Kashmir is the most beautiful place in India. (S.D)

 Model II:
 PD: Very few + Plural Noun + Phrase+ Plural Verb (are/were) +as------as+
Subject
 CD: Subject + Verb + Adjective (-er/more) + than many/ other + plural noun +
Phrase
 SD: Subject + Verb + one of the +Adjective(-est/most)+plural noun +Phrase
 Ex: 1. India is one of the greatest countries in the world. (S.D)
 2. Vani is cleverer than many other girls in our class (C.D)
 3. Very few rivers in India are as long as the Godavari. ( P.D)


 MODEL III:
 CD : Subject(I) + Verb + Adjective (-er/more) + than + Subject
(II)
 PD : Subject (II) + Verb + not + so….as +Subject (I)
 ***Note: In this model, we don’t have the Superlative
Degree.
 Ex: 1. Sheela is cleverer than Leela. ( C.D)
 2. Gopal is not so strong as Bheema.(P.D)
 3. Sword is not so mighty as pen. (P.D.)
 4. Mysore is more beautiful than Bangalore. ( C.D)

 The following Adjectives are compared irregularly, that is, their
Comparative and Superlatives are not formed from the
Positive:-
 Positive -- Comparative -- Superlative
 Good, well -- better -- best
 Bad, evil, ill -- worse -- worst
 Little -- less, lesser -- least
 Much -- more -- most (quantity)
 Many -- more -- most (number)
 Late -- later, latter -- latest, last

 Old -- older, elder -- oldest, eldest
 Far -- farther -- farthest
 (Nigh) -- (nigher) -- (nighest), next
 (Fore) -- (former) -- foremost, first
 (Far) -- further -- furthest
 (In) -- inner -- inmost, innermost
 (Up) -- upper -- upmost, uppermost
 (Out) -- outer, (utter) -- utmost, uttermost

 Assignment: 1
 Change the Degree of Comparison, without changing the meaning:
 1. Malacca is the oldest town in Malaysia.
 2. Soya beans are at least as nutritious as meat.
 3. No other planet is so big as Jupiter.
 4. Very few boys are as industrious as Latif.
 5. He would sooner die than tell a lie.
 6. India is the largest democracy in the world.
 7. Shakespeare is greater than any other English poet.
 8. Samudra Gupta was one of the greatest of Indian Kings.
 9. The tiger is the most ferocious of all animals.
 10. Australia is the largest island in the world.
 11. Lead is heavier than any other metal.
 12. Some people have more money than brains.
 13. A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend.
 14. I know him quite as well as you do.
 15.Dhoni is one of the most successful captains.

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queries?
Thank You

Degrees of comparision

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