CHAPTER THIRTEEN: COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE FORMS.
13.1 THE BASIC FORMS.
13.1.1
The comparison of two equal things is expressed by "as ... as ."
Henry's house is as big as yours.
His sister is as intelligent as mine.
Its negative form can be expressed in two ways, either by "not as ...
as," or by "not so ... as ."
Her cooking isn't as tasty as her sister's.
That band isn't so good as it used to be.
13.1.2
A comparison indicating superiority is expressed by "more ...
than," or, for short adjectives, by the form ending in "er" followed by "than."
Studying grammar is more interesting than going dancing.
April is usually wetter than August.
A comparison expressing inferiority can be expressed by "less ... than,"
but we more frequently use "not so ... as" or "not as ... as ."
The film was less enjoyable than we'd expected.
(.... wasn't as enjoyable as we'd expected.)
13.1.3
The superlative is expressed by "the most ...," or, with short
adjectives, by the form ending in "est."
This is the most interesting English lesson I've ever had.
In 1985, we had the driest October for ages.
The opposite idea can be expressed by "the least ... ," but we often tend
to replace this by the superlative form of an adjective having the opposite
sense.
He's the least generous person I know.
(He's the meanest... .)
Smith is one of the least orthodox players I've ever seen.
(... one of the most unorthodox ...)
13.2 SHORT AND LONG ADJECTIVES.
13.2.1
syllable.
By "short" adjectives, we firstly mean all adjectives of one
long - longer - longest
cool - cooler - coolest
The rules concerning the doubling of the consonant, or the "y"
becoming "ie" are in fact the same as those we saw concerning verb-forms in
1.2.3 and 1.2.4.
big - bigger - biggest
shy - shier - shiest
(grey - greyer - greyest)
13.2.2
Certain adjectives having two syllables are also considered as
being "short" adjectives. Look carefully at the following groups.
(a) Adjectives having the accent on the second syllable:
polite - severe - sincere - profound
(b) Adjectives ending in "er," "ow," "le," or a consonant followed by "y."
clever - narrow - hollow - noble - gentle - happy - crazy
13.2.3
Adjectives ending in "ed" generally take "more" and "most," even
short adjectives such as "tired" and "bored," as well as longer ones such as
"amused," "annoyed" and "surprised."
I think I was more tired than you were after yesterday's walk.
It's hard to say who was the most surprised of the three!
In cases where you are not sure, the comparative and superlative
forms using "more" and "most" can generally be used, although it may be a
little clumsy at times. Longer adjectives always take the forms using "more"
and "most."
13.2.4
Adverbs always have the comparative forms with "more" and
"most," apart from the few monosyllabic forms such as "fast," "hard" and so
on, and also "early," which gives us the forms "earlier" and "earliest."
She can lie more easily than anyone I know.
Henry did his tests the most successfully.
13.3 IRREGULAR COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE FORMS.
13.3.1
good - better - best
Your suggestion is good, but David had an even better idea, and I
think George's was in fact the best.
well - better - best
Martin played quite well, but his cousin played better than he did, and
their friend Penelope played the best of all.
13.3.2
bad - worse - worst
She's a bad cook, worse than her mother in fact, but it's their
grandmother who's the worst of the lot.
badly - worse - worst
Daphne drives very badly, worse than her mother in fact, (which takes
some doing!) But guess who drives the worst in the family? - That's right,
Grandma!
13.3.3
far - farther (further) - farthest (furthest)
Don't go too far along that cliff-top, it gets more dangerous the farther
you go; the farthest I ever went was about twenty or thirty yards, but then I
got quite scared.
Firstly, "further" and "furthest" are simply alternative forms to those
used in the example, but note that "further" can also be an adjective,
meaning "additional," "supplementary" or "complementary."
He asked us for some further information about it.
A further report will be given in the nine o'clock bulletin.
13.3.4
old - older (elder) - oldest (eldest)
John is older than Henry, but I think David's the oldest.
"Elder" and "eldest" are alternative forms, which can only be used
when you are talking about members of the same family; they are used
either in front of a noun, or as pronouns.
My elder brother's name is Jeremy; who's the eldest in your family?
She's a quarter of an hour older than her twin sister.
13.4 MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS.
13.4.1
"Much," (singular,) and "many," (plural,) are quite often used in
negatives and questions, but otherwise they are generally replaced by "a lot
of," especially in spoken English. The corresponding comparative and
superlative forms are "more" and "most."
I did quite a lot of work today, but you did more than me, and I think
in fact that Charles did the most.
Mary makes a lot of mistakes in her spelling, but she makes even more
in arithmetic, and her grammar exercises contain the most mistakes in the
class.
"Many" will in fact generally be preferred to "a lot of" in expressions of
time, such as "many weeks," "many months," "many years" and so on.
Note also the use of "most" meaning "the majority of," plus the fact
that it is never preceded by an article in this case.
Most people seem to think that work is boring.
Most Swiss people eat cheese, and yodel all day long.
13.4.2
"Little" followed by a singular noun means "not much," and has
the comparative and superlative forms "less" and "least."
We have little time to do all the work you've given us, Sir.
My little sister does less work than I do.
You have the least patience of all the people I know!
Note than when "little" means "small," we normally use the
comparative and superlative forms "smaller" and "smallest."
She's quite little, but her elder brother is even smaller!
13.4.3
"Few" followed by a plural noun means "not many," and strictly
speaking the comparative and superlative forms are "fewer" and "fewest,"
although in fact you will sometimes hear "less" and "least" used.
There are few problems I can think of that are more urgent than that
of environmental pollution.
They have fewer reasons than us for not being content.
It's in places like Liverpool that there are the fewest jobs.
(It's the poor who have the least opportunities to make themselves
heard.)
13.4.4
"Late" gives us the normal forms "later" and "latest," but one or
two remarks are necessary. First of all, notice the uses made of these forms
in the following examples:
Big bands were very popular in the late forties.
I think Penelope must be in her late twenties now.
We'll have to put the party off to a later date.
(It will take place at a later date.)
Have you read the latest news about Israel?
Fellini's latest film is really marvellous.
Pay attention also to the following examples, which show you how we
use the terms "the former" and "the latter," to differentiate between two
people or things which have just been specifically mentioned.
Higgins and Brocklehurst both work in London, the former in the City,
and the latter in the West End.
A life sentence was suggested, as was hanging, the latter idea creating
an immense uproar in the court.
13.4.5
Look at the following alternative ways of expressing comparison.
I am taller than he is / I am taller than he / I am taller than him.
She talks louder than I do / She talks louder than I / She talks louder
than me.
Modern English would use the first or third of these possibilities,
rather than the second, which sounds somewhat old-fashioned.
13.4.6
The complement of a superlative form is introduced by "in"
rather than "of" when it indicates a place.
It's difficult to say who is the best player in the world.
I'm in love with the prettiest girl in town.
13.4.7
Don't forget that you must use a comparative form, and not a
superlative, when you are comparing two people or things.
Is she the cleverer of the twins?
Which is the older of the two buildings?
13.4.8
We use the preposition "by" to indicate how much difference
there is between things we are comparing.
The south coast is warmer than the northern isles by several degrees.
He was faster than the second runner by just twelve hundredths of a
second.
I think your idea is better by far.
An alternative to this form would be to leave out the preposition, and
say:
The south coast is several degrees warmer ...
He was twelve hundredths of a second faster...
Your idea is far better.
13.4.9
"Same" and "such" are followed by "as" when they indicate a
comparison, which is quite logical, as they indicate an idea of equality.
She came the same day as her sister.
Books such as this one are always useful.
(Such books as this...)
An attitude such as yours does no good at all.
(Such an attitude as yours ...
13.4.10 "Other" is followed by "than" when it expresses a comparison.
I have no other newspaper than this one.
He had no other alternative than to resign.
13.4.11 To emphasize the degree of difference between two things, we put
"much" or "far" in front of the comparative form.
Your work is much better this time.
The fur coat is far more expensive than the leather one.
We had much more fun when Daphne was here.
My car was far cheaper than that!
13.4.12
In front of "too much," we can use "far" or "much" to insist on
the degree of excess; in front of "too many" we always use "far."
You spend far too much time watching television.
They get much too much pocket-money.
This class made far too many mistakes in the last dictation.
13.4.13
Note how the following sort of comparison of two ideas requires
the use and the repetition of the definite article.
The
The
The
weeks.
The
The
harder you work, the easier it all becomes.
longer I look at it, the less I like it.
less interesting I find a film, the more likely it is to be on for
more carefully you learn all this, the better your marks will be.
sooner we get out of here, the happier I'll be!
13.4.14
To show a progression, or something increasing or decreasing,
we simply repeat the comparative form.
He runs faster and faster every time he trains.
He became less and less tolerant as he got older.
They seem to stay out later and later these days.
13.4.15 Look at the following examples expressing another idea of
comparison.
I am all the more surprised at his failure as I know he worked very
hard for the exam.
Her excuse was all the less plausible as her face went as red as a
beetroot.
In these examples, "as" could be replaced by "because" or "since," and
the idea is the same as that expressed in the following sentences.
I'm even more surprised about his failure, because I know he worked
...
Her excuse was even less plausibe, because her face ...
13.4.16 Note the different ways of expressing the comparison after the verb
"to prefer."
She prefers coffee to tea, but she prefers whisky to them both.
I used to prefer Beethoven to Brahms, but now I'm not so sure.
We all prefer playing to sitting and watching.
We all prefer to play rather than (to) sit and watch.