Degrees of Comparison

The Adjective

Morphological Characteristics	Morphological Composition	Syntactical Functions
1. 3 degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, superlative: big-bigger-the biggest; beautiful - more beautiful - the most beautiful	1. simple (no prefixes or suffixes): big, little, sad 2. derivative: suffixes or/and prefixes: beauti ful, un kind, un law ful 3. compound (built from 2 or more stems): snow-white, life-giving,	1. an attribute: a black cat… 2. predicative: The night was black

Classification of Adjectives

Qualitative

Relative

- denote qualities of a substance directly as size, shape, colour, physical or mental qualities, qualities of general estimation: little, large, soft, hard, etc. grammatical characteristics: -degrees of comparison: big - bigger - the biggest; - some don't have them: greenish, darkish, - have typical suffixes: -ful, - ous, - less, - ent, - able, - y, - ish: careful, famous, careless, comfortable, greenish, silvery - most form adverbs by the suffix -ly: comfortable - comfortably - can be used as attributes and predicatives

- denote qualities of a substance indirectly through their relation to material (silken, woolen), place (Italian, Asian), to time (weekly, monthly), to some action (preparatory, rotary). grammatical characteristics: - have no degrees of comparison - have typical suffixes: -en, -an, -ist, - ic, - ical: wooden, socialist, economic, economical, historic, historical, etc. - don't form adverbs by the suffix - ly - chiefly used as attributes and predicatives: The morning was windy. He was sitting in a big wooden chair.

Degrees of Comparison

Regular

Irregular

1. - er, - est: - 1-syllable adjectives: big-bigger-the biggest, small- smaller- the smallest - 2-syllable adjectives ending in - y, - ow,- er, -le: early- earlier-the earliest narrow-narrower-the narrowest simple- simpler- the simplest - 2-syllable words with the stress on the second syllable: polite- politer-the politest 2. - more, - the most - 2-, 3- and more syllable adjectives: honest- more honest- the most honest interesting-more interesting-the most interesting - words ending in ful or less, e.g. helpful, useful; hopeless - words ending in ing or ed, e.g. boring, willing; annoyed, - many others, e.g. afraid, certain, correct, eager, exact, famous, foolish, frequent, modern, nervous, normal, recent Spelling rules: - busy-busier-the busiest - sad - sadder - the saddest, hot – hotter –the hottest (thin, red, big, fat, wet, mad) but: rich- richer, fast –faster etc

good - better - the best bad/ill - worse - the worst far - farther - the farthest (distance only) - further - the furthest (distance and “more”, “additional”) (farther/ further bank of the river; но: further information) much- more (uncount) -the most many- more (count) -the most little - less - the least(opposites of more and most.) Used with both long and short words. (less expensive, less tired) old- older - the oldest (people, building) Tom looks older than he is - elder -the eldest (about family members) late - later - the latest - latter - the last Note: the latest (news, fashion, book, film, etc) the last page (day of the month, thing to do, etc.) the former and the latter (spoken of 2 things, people): Psychologists say there are 2 types of people: type A and type B. The former (первые) are more ambitious than the latter (последние). near - nearer - the nearest (distance) e.g. the nearest hotel - nearer - the next (subsequent) e.g. We live in the next house

Comparison

Not as … as/not so …as	Less than …	As … as	The same as
Tom isn’t as old as he looks. (=he looks older than he is)   Jenny did n’t do as well in the exam as she had hoped. (=she had hoped to do better)   It is not warm but it is n’t so cold as yesterday. (=…it isn’t as cold as …)	I spent less money than you. The city centre was less crowded than usual.	I’m sorry I’m late. I got here as fast as I could. Let’s walk. It’s just as quick as taking the bus. There’s plenty of food. You can have as much as you like.   twice as … as, three times as … as Petrol is twice as expensive as it was a few years ago. Their house is about three times as big as ours. He is twice as old. He is half my age. My room is half the size of yours. I paid for the book half as much as for the stamp. I have half as many English books as Italian.	(not the same like)   Ann’s salary is the same as mine.or Ann gets the same salary as me.   Tom is the same age as George (BUT: Tom is as old as George)
Than me.. than I am You are taller than me. He is not as clever as her.(not she) (when there is no verb)   You are taller than I am (but You are taller than me) They have more money than we have (but They have more money than us) I can run as fast as he can (I can run as fast as him)
- 2 things: This watch is cheaper than that one. This story is more interesting than that one.	- 3 things and more: This watch is the cheapest of all. This story is t he most interesting of all stories (that I have ever read)

Exercises

I. Add two more degrees of comparison of the following nouns.

- big………………………………………………………., busy……………………………………………………………

- dirty………………………………………….................., early……………………………………………………………

- hot………………………………………………, nice……………………………………………………………………..

- wonderful……………………………………………………..dangerous…………………………………………………,

- bad……………………………………………………, good………………………………………………………………, many……………………………………………………, much……………………………………………………………, late……………………………………………………., far……………………………………………………………….., little……………………………………………………., old……………………………………………………………….

II. Give the comparative and superlative degree of the following.

Model: a sharp pencil - a sharper pencil - the sharpest pencil

A funny story, a hard problem, a young lady, an important problem, a hot day, a favourite writer.

III. Model: This chair isn't good enough. Let me get you a better one.

Pencil - sharp; book - interesting; table - strong; picture - interesting; dress - nice;

fish - fresh; spoon - clean; story - interesting; newspaper - new; glass - big.

IV. Ask questions. Model: Minsk- Kiev? - Which is bigger, Minsk or Kiev?

January or March? paper or wood? honey or sugar? a cat or a dog? English or Chinese? the book or the film?

V. Complete the sentences using a comparative form.

1. It’s too noisy here. Can we go somewhere quieter.

2. This coffee is very weak. I like it a bit ___________________________________________________.

3. The hotel was surprisingly big. I expected it to be __________________________________________.

4. The hotel was surprisingly cheap. I expected it to be ________________________________________.

5. The weather is too cold in this country. I’d to live somewhere ________________________________.

6. My job is a bit boring sometimes. I’d like to do something ___________________________________.

7. I was surprised how easy it was to use the computer. I thought it would be_______________________.

8. Your work isn’t very good. I’m sure you can do ___________________________________________.

9. Don’t worry. The situation isn’t so bad. It could be __________________________________________.

10. You hardly ever phone me. Why don’t you phone me________________________________________?

11. You’re standing too near the camera. Can you move a bit _____________________________________?

VI. Complete the sentences. Each time use the comparative form of one of the words in the list.

Use than where necessary.

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