COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

To compare means to establish a difference or a similitude in between two or more elements (beings or things) in what regards a certain common characteristic, feature property, that is we compare that feature common to two (or more) elements. We do not compare the elements but their feature that is common (their height, their weight, their intelligence etc.). So we can compare the height of a man with that of a pig / door, etc.

e.g. The pig is shorter than the boy who is shorter than the door.

We can also compare the feature of an element in different times, regarding the same element.

e.g. He is feeling better than yesterday but I think he was best last Friday.

The comparison is specific only to adjectives and adverbs.

The degrees of comparison are:

1 – the positive degree

2 – the comparative degree – the comparative of superiority– the comparative of equality– the comparative of inferiority

3 – the superlative degree – the superlative relative– the superlative absolute

The positive represents a comparison in itself, that is the notion itself came into being as a result of a comparison. For example, the child of a family becomes the “old“ child of the family only when there was born another child of that family (this one being the “young“ child), a. s. o.

N. B. – In English, some adjectives in the positive have the form of the comparative as a result of a comparison

e. g. – higher (education, compared to high education) – higher (society); upper (classes); – lower (secondary school); lower (river), (upper) river – outer (space)

In English, there are three ways to achieve comparison:

A – The irregular comparisonB – The synthetic comparisonC – The analytic comparison

While the irregular and the synthetic comparison refer to certain adjectives and adverbs and include only the comparative of superiority and the superlative relative, the analytic comparison include long adjectives and adverbs in the comparative of superiority and the superlative relative on the one hand, and all the adjectives and adverbs in all the other degrees and forms of comparison than the comparative of superiority and the superlative relative.

N. B. – the short adjectives/adverbs are considered the one–syllable ones, allthe others being long adjectives/adverbs

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A – THE IRREGULAR COMPARISON

The positive degree

The comparative of superiority

The superlative relative

bad / ill worse the worstgood / well better the bestfar 1 farther / further the farthest / the furthestfew less / fewer the fewestfore 2 former the foremost / firsthind (posterior, de la spate, dindărăt)

hinder the hindmost / the hindermost

late 3 later / latter the latest / lastlittle less / lesser the least / littlestmany / much more the mostnear nearer the nearest / the nextold 4 older / elder the oldest / eldesteast / eastern more eastern the eastmost 5 / easternmostnorth / northern more northern the northmost 5 / northernmostsouth / southern more southern the southmost 5 / southernmostwest / western more western the westmost 5 / westernmostbeneath 6 (adv.) nether (adj.) the nethermost (adj.)in 6 (adv.) inner (adj.) the inmost / innermost (adj.)out 6 (adv.) outer / utter (adj.) the outer(utter)most / utmost / up 6 (adv.) upper (adj.) the upmost / uppermost (adj.)

N. B. 1 – “further” and “the furthest” (but not ‘farther’ and ‘the farthest’) are usually used to

express sth more, sth extra, some other, sth ‘in addition’: e. g. “No further explanation, please!”

“I’ll give you a further reason for my decision.”“I want you to stay here for a further two months.’ Upon further consideration I decided to answer the letter.’

“further” and “the furthest” can be used to refer to distance as welle. g. “I drove ten mile farther / further than necessary.”

2 – a. “former” means previous, smb / sth that is no longer what he / it was in certain relationships:

e. g. “Do you see the man talking to your father? He’s my former teacher of English.” (fostul meu profesor)

b. used with “the”, “former” means the first regarding two elementse. g. There were two competitors; the former is my deskmate and the latter is your sister, isn’t she?

3 – “latter” means the last of two, the second regarding two elements (see the example

above)4 – the irregular forms “elder” and “the eldest” are used to compare the age of the

members of the same family (sons, daughters, sisters and brothers). They are used attributive only, therefore they are never followed by ‘than’.

e. g. Dan is my elder brother. Rodica is the eldest.

butMy brother is older than I am and Rodica is the oldest in our family.

“my elder (eldest) cousin” = in Romanian ‘mai în vârstă (cel mai în vârstă)’ dintre doi (sau mai mulţi) fraţi care sunt şi veri de-ai mei (el poate fi chiar mai tânăr decât mine)

5 – these forms are rarely used6 – the comparative and the superlative of these adverbs are no longer adverbs, but adjectives:

g. “Let the children in!” (adv.), “the inner side” (adj.); “Out with it!” (adv.), “in the outer space” (adj.); “Up you go!” (adv.), “the upper classes” (adj.)

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– beside the forms in the table above, there are irregular forms for the superlative degree built up with “–most” as an ending for some adjectives and adverbs such as: aftermost (cel mai din urmă, din urmă de tot), hithermost (cel mai apropiat de locul acesta), lowermost (cel mai de jos, inferior), midmost (cel mai apropiat de/din mijloc/central), topmost (cel

mai din vârf/din cap, cel mai important), undermost (cel mai de jos, cel mai dedesubt)

B – THE SYNTHETIC COMPARISONThe synthetic comparison includes:

1 – one–syllable adjectives / adverbs2 – two–syllable adjectives /adverbs ending in –er, –le, –ly (not the adverbs in –ly),

–ow, –some, –ure, –y,3 – some two–syllable adjectives with the stress on the first syllable4 – some two–syllable adjectives with the stress on the second syllable5 – three–syllable adjectives with a negative prefix

For all these adjectives and adverbs the comparative of superiority is built up by means of the ending –er, and the superlative relative with the ending –est.

The positive degree

The comparative of superiority The superlative relative

clear (1) clearer the clearestfat fatter the fattestfine finer the finestgay gayer the gayestrare rarer the rarestbusy (2) busier the busiesteasy easier the easiestpretty prettier the prettiestfriendly (2) friendlier the friendliestkindly kindlier the kindliestlonely lonelier the loneliestbitter (2) bitterer the bitterestclever cleverer the cleveresttender tenderer the tenderestgentle (2) gentler the gentlesthumble humbler the humblestnoble nobler the noblesthollow (2) hollower the hollowestnarrow narrower the narrowestyellow yellower the yellowestgruesome* (2) gruesomer the gruesomesthandsome handsomer the handsomestlonesome lonesomer the lonesomestmature (2) maturer the maturestobscure obscurer the obscurest

able [‘eibl] (3) abler the ablestcommon [‘k m n] commoner the commonestcruel [‘kru l] crueller the cruellest

absurd (4) absurder the absurdestdiscreet discreeter the discreetestminute** minuter the minutestuneasy (5) uneasier the uneasiest

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positive–er the positive–est

unlucky unluckier the unluckiestunpleasant unpleasanter the unpleasantestimpolite impoliter the impolitestincomplete incompleter the incompletest

N. B. – * gruesome (in Rom.) – înfiorător, groaznic, de groază, înspăimântător** minute as an adjective is read [mai’nju:t] (in Rom.) – mic, minuscul, foarte mic; amănunţit, detaliat, minuţios;

mărunt, fără importanţă. As a noun, minute is read [‘minit]. Exceptions: adjectives belonging to groups 1 to 4 but which have the analytic comparison: worn, worth

(1); agile, candid, docile, eager, fertile, fragile, hostile, nervous, proper, prudent, sudden, tiresome (2, 3); afraid, alive, alone, aloof (distant, în depărtare, la distanţă), aware, antique, bizarre, burlesque, content, intact (4)

Some two–syllable adjectives / adverbs have both synthetic and analytic comparison

The positivedegree

The comparative of superiority The superlative relativesynthetic analytic synthetic analytic

abrupt abrupter more abrupt the abruptest the most abruptcorrect correcter more correct the correctest the most correctdistinct distincter more distinct the distinctest the most distinct

REMEMBER: You may hear or read forms such as more able, more glad, more proud, more sad,

more sorry, more hot, more cloudy (the last two can be heard even in the weather reports on BBC); even more bad, more good, more well-known, most well-advised, most well-informed, most well-dressed; even the adjectives ending in –ing, or in the participial –ed can be found in synthetic forms,

e.g. “One of the most good people that he knew.”“They have certainly done their damnedest.”“London was on the way to being the leadingest place.”

Even Guinness Book of Records uses the superlative “mostest”.

Such forms are not examples to be used as long as they are not standard and do not belong to the English literary language, proving the lack of education of the speaker.

You should avoid the double comparative (more nicer, less nearer) what is a mistake in English.

C – THE ANALYTIC COMPARISON

1. – The comparative of superiority and the superlative relative of the long adjectives and adverbs

The positive degree

The comparative of superiority The superlative relative

active more active the most activebeautiful more beautiful the most beautifulinteresting more interesting the most interesting

2. – The comparative of equality, the comparative of inferiority and the superlative absolute of all the adjectives and adverbs (A, B and C. 1.)

2. a. – The comparative of equality:

2. b. – The comparison of inferiority

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the most + positivemore + positive

AS + positive + AS – as bad as– as big as– as interesting as

There is another construction that seems to be the comparative of inferiority, but it is considered a negative comparison

e. g. “He is not so kind as his sister.” what is usually met as “He is not as kind as his sister.”, which is the negative form of the comparative of equality and not a comparative of inferiority

2. c. – The superlative absolute

a. – The superlative absolute is built up by means of words which suggest an extremity, the limit of sth. used with the positive degree of that adjective / adverb. Among the words used for the superlative absolute we mention:

admirably entirely fully perfectly uncommonlyalarmingly exceedingly frightfully remarkably unusuallyawfully exceptionally greatly shockingly unutterablycolossally excessively highly singularly utterlycompletely extraordinarily horribly strikingly vastlyconsiderably extravagantly hugely terribly wonderfullydreadfully extremely infinitely thoroughly

e. g. awfully pleased dreadfully sorry terribly nicefrightfully kind perfectly awful really disgraceful

b. – The use of some prefixes or words such as:

extra–dry hypersensitive superannuatedextra –strong overbusy superfinehyperconscientious oversized ultra–short

c. – The use of a noun or of a superlative form followed by the preposition of in a genitival construction such as:

He proclaimed courage as the virtue of all virtues.In her heart of hearts she knew he was right.He was the lowest of the low.

d. – The repetition of an adjective / adverb

She’s goody–goody. (mironosiţă)Naughty–naughty! (“Nu eşti cuminte!” glumeţ, la adresa unei fete care se plimbă cu un băiat)He’s clever–clever. (este foarte abil; “Mare şmecher!”)

e. – The positive preceded by adverbs such as just, quite, positively, really, simply etc.It was just splendid.She was quite disappointed.It was positively disgraceful.Your question is really interesting.She was simply awful.

The intensive comparative

The comparative form is repeated with the conjunction and to show a certain progression of that feature (in Romanian “din ce în ce mai … ”, “tot mai … “).

He speaks English better and better.The English lessons are getting more and more difficult .

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LESS + positive + THAN

NOT SO + positive + AS

– less bad than– less big than– less interesting than

The comparative form with “THE”

1. – The comparative form with the (adv., here, in Romanian “cu cât … cu atât…”) in constructions of the kind:

The less time you give to it, the worse results you will get.The shorter the days are, the colder they become.

The well–known paradox: The more you learn, the more you know;the more you know, the more you forget;the more you forget, the less you know;the less you know, the less you forget:the less you forget, the more you know!

2. – The comparative between two elements gets the meaning of a superlative and is used with the.

Tom is the older of our two colleagues.Do you see the two men standing near the door? The taller is my brother.

The comparison of the comparative and of the superlative

Both the comparative and the superlative can be compared, being a stylistic device to underline the idea expressed by them. The comparative is usually preceded by (very) much, far, lots, a lot, or followed by the adverb by far.

e. g. The weather is much worse today.Mother is far gentler than your father.He is feeling very much worse.You are lots / a lot less active than usual. Tom is gentler by far than Will.

The comparison of the superlative is achieved either by using very or by far in front of the superlative or the adjectives conceivable, imaginable, possible etc. after it, or by repeating the adverb too.

e.g.She is the very nicest kind of girl.They are my very best friends.It is by far the most interesting play. I have read the worst novel imaginable.I hope you’ll have the finest weather possible.It’s too, too charming!

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