Comparison of Adjectives: Positive, Comparative & Superlative

Comparison of Adjectives

By

Mohammed Mohsin ( M.A in English Literature J.U)and B.Ed 1^st Class.( N.U)

Mobile:+8801814-22 25 07/+8801850-14 97 02.

Comparison of Adjectives

 There are three kinds of Degrees. They are

               (1) Positive, (2) Comparative and (3)  Superlative.

(1)Positive Degree: The simplest form of an Adjective/Adverb. Structure: Subject +verb+ Modifier +Adjective/Adverb. As,

He is a good boy.

(2)Comparative Degree: When a comparison is made between two persons or things. The comparative form of an adjective/adverb is followed by Than/Than any other/Than most other/Than all other. Such as,

• The lion is stronger than the tiger.
• London is more beautiful than most other cities.
• The Padma is larger than any other river in Bangladesh.

(3)Superlative Degree: When a comparison is made with more than two persons or things. The superlative form is preceded by the/one of the and followed by  in/of/of all. Such as,

• London is the biggest city in the world.
• She is one of the most beautiful ladies in the village.

Syllables

Definition: The Part of a word which is uttered/ pronounced at a time is called a Syllable. There are four classes of Syllables. They are—

• Mono- Syllable: The word which has one part only and pronounced at a time. As, cat, dog, rat, good etc.
• Di-Syllable: A word having two syllables or two parts. As, sis+ter, bro +ther, mo +ther etc.
• Tri-Syllable: A word having three syllables. As, won+der+ful,  beau +ti+ful etc.
• Poly-Syllable: The word having more than three syllables. As, pre+po+si+tion,  in+ter+jec+tion, etc.

Rules of Comparison

(1)Adjectives of one(mono) Syllable are formed into Comparative and Superlative by adding er and est to the Comparative and Superlative respectively.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Bright	brighter	brightest
Bold	bolder	boldest
Cold	Colder	coldest
Old	older	oldest
Clever	cleverer	cleverest
Few	fewer	fewest
Great	greater	greatest
Hard	harder	hardest
High	higher	highest
Kind	kinder	kindest
Low	lower	lowest
Long	longer	longest
New	newer	newest
Poor	poorer	poorest
Rich	richer	richest

  2. Adjectives ending in  e only take r and st in comparative and superlative respectively.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Able	abler	ablest
Brave	braver	bravest
Fine	finer	finest
Late	later/latter	latest/last
Large	larger	largest
Noble	nobler	noblest
Nice	nicer	nicest
Pale	paler	palest
True	truer	truest
Wise	wiser	wisest
Wide	wider	widest

  3. When the positive ends in a consonant preceded by a Vowel, the   consonant becomes doubled before adding  er  and  est .

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Big	bigger	biggest
Fat	fatter	fattest
Hot	hotter	hottest
Mad	madder	maddest
Red	redder	reddest
Sad	sadder	saddest
Thin	thinner	thinnest

4. Positives ending in  y  and preceded by a consonant , then  y is changed into i  and add er and est to comparative and superlative respectively.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Dry	drier	driest
Sly	slier	sliest
Busy	busier	busiest
Happy	happier	happiest
Heavy	heavier	heaviest
Lazy	lazier	laziest
Pretty	prettier	prettiest
Merry	merrier	merriest
Easy	easier	easiest
Holy	holier	holiest
Mighty	mightier	mightiest
Ugly	uglier	ugliest
Wealthy	wealthier	wealthiest

5. Some irregular comparatives and superlatives.

Positive	comparative	superlative
Bad, ill, evil	worse	worst
Good, well	better	best
Fore	former	foremost/first
Fore	further/furthermore	furthest/furthermost
Little	less	least
Much/many	more	most
Near	nearer	next/nearest
Nigh	nigher	next/nighest
In	inner	inmost
Out	outer/utter	uttermost/utmost
Beneath	nether	nethermost
Up	upper	upmost

6. Adjectives of two or more than two syllables are formed into comparative and superlative by adding more/less and most/ least to the comparative and superlative respectively. 

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Active	more/less active	most/least active
Beautiful	more/less beautiful	most/least beautiful
Dutiful	more/less dutiful	most/least dutiful
Careful	more/less careful	most/least careful
Cunning	more/less cunning	most/least cunning
Courageous	more/less courageous	most/least courageous
Comfortable	more/less comfortable	most/least comfortable
Difficult	more/less difficult	most/least difficult
Diligent	more/less diligent	most/least diligent
Dangerous	more/less dangerous	most/least dangerous
Honest	more/less honest	most/least honest
Important	more/less important	most/least important
Intelligent	more/less intelligent	most/least intelligent
Industrious	more/ less industrious	most/least industrious