DEGREES OF
COMPARISON
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, things and
places) in comparison to the
others mentioned in the other
part of a sentence/expression.
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Kinds of Degrees of comparison
Kinds of degrees of comparison
POSITIVE DEGREE
Degree of equality
COMAPRATIVE DEGREE
Progressive degree
SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
Parallel degree
Degree of inequality
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Positive Degree
Positive Degree
Degree of equality
Degree of inequality
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POSITIVE DEGREE
 One noun – person, thing or place – and one quality… above average
tall
– adjective
 John is a
man.
4
Positive degree (continued)
 Eifel tower is a
tall
man-made structure.
One noun with one quality – ‘tall’ adjective in positive form
5
Degree of equality

The adjective or adverb is in positive form
showing that two persons or things are the
same – two nouns having the same quality.
The common conjunction used is “as…as”.
6
Degree of equality: example 1
 John is
as
strong
as
James.
‘strong’ – adjective in positive form showing equality
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Degree of inequality
 The adjective or adverb is in positive
form showing that two persons or things
are not the same – two nouns not having
the same quality.
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Degree of inequality

Peter is not
as (so)
fast
as
Paul.
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COMPARATIVE DEGREE
Two persons, things or places are being
compared with one adjective or adverb
to show that one has more quality or
quantity of the adjective or adverb than
the other.
The adjective or adverb takes ‘r’ or ‘er’
to its positive form, and is said to be in
comparative form.
The conjunction ‘than’ is used to connect
the two clauses.
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Comparative Degree: example

A horse can run
faster
than
a dog.
11
Degree of Comparison:
Comparative degree
Progressive Degree
Parallel Degree
12
Progressive Degree
Two adjectives or adverbs are being
compared to show that one
continues to increase (or decrease)
when the other increases (or
decreases).
The adjective or adverb is in its
comparative form with the definite
article ‘the’ before it.
13
Progressive Degree: example

The steeper the hill, the more difficult it is to
push the rock up!
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Parallel Degree
The quality or quantity of the adjective or
adverb continues to increase (or
decrease) as the time passes.
The adjective or adverb in its comparative
form is repeated using the conjunction
‘and’.
15
Parallel Degree: example
days are getting hotter and hotter.
► It is getting hotter and hotter day by day.
► The
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SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
► Comparing
one noun – person, thing or place –
with several others of its kind to show that this
particular noun has the highest degree of the
quality or quantity of the adjective or adverb being
used to compare.
► The adjective or adverb takes the ‘superlative
form’, ending with ‘st’ or ‘est’, with the definite
article ‘the’ before it.
► The preposition ‘of’ is used when the comparison
is among items, and ‘in’ is used to specify the
place, position or area.
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Superlative Degree:
example 1

The elephant is the largest of all land animals.

The giraffe is the tallest of all animals.
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Superlative Degree: example 2

Susan is the most intelligent girl in the class.
Susan
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Degrees of Comparison: worksheet 1
• Gerald is
fast
the fastest
the faster
footballer in our team.
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Degrees of Comparison: worksheet 2

Tom is a
stronger
the strongest
strong
boy.
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Degrees of Comparison: worksheet 3

This man is
sad
happy
angry
, but that man is
.
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Degrees of Comparison: worksheet 4
 Kate is
more active
activer
active
than Sue.
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Degrees of Comparison: worksheet 5
• The white flower is as
the most beautiful
more beautiful
beautiful
as the red flower.
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Degrees of Comparison: worksheet 6
the weights, the
them.
The heavy
the difficult
The heavier
the more difficult
it is to lift
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Degrees of Comparison: worksheet 7
 The sea is getting
.
rough and rough
rougher and rougher
the rougher and the rougher
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Degrees of Comparison: worksheet 8
 Mt. Everest is
higher than
high
the highest
mountain in the world.
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