The comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives are used very often in both oral and written speech. And this applies not only to the Russian language. Today we are interested in foreign vocabulary, namely comparative and superlative degrees in English. Nowadays, there is an increasing need to communicate in it. In order to speak correctly and to be correctly understood by the foreigners around you, you need to study the rules for the formation of these degrees.
What is an adjective
Before we talk about how comparatives and superlatives are formed in English, let's take a quick look at the adjective itself. What part of speech is this? In a nutshell, an adjective is used when we need to describe an object, person or process. Answering questions which one?, which one?, which one?, which ones?, this part of speech helps us not only describe them, but also compare them with each other, as well as declare the superiority of a particular object or character.
- We live in it big home for a very long time.
- Old the park looks much better better early in the morning.
- We are the youngest experts in this field.
The highlighted words clearly show what function the adjective performs in a sentence. This function is definition. And in this sense there is no difference between Russian and English.
Degrees of comparison: rule
Comparative and superlative adjectives are two of the three forms in which this part of speech can be used. There are three degrees of comparison:
- Positive - here the adjective has its initial form, for example: white, fat, tall, good, etc.
- Comparative - this form is used when we want to compare something with something, to show the advantage of something over something, for example: better, taller, fatter, smarter, smaller, etc.
- Excellent - we use this option when we want to show that someone or something has the highest degree of quality, for example: the highest, the most expensive, the best, the smallest, etc.
The choice of word option also depends on what idea you want to convey to your interlocutor. We will consider all possible rules for the formation of both degrees separately.
comparative
In English grammar, there are rules by which both comparative and superlative degrees are formed. Exercises to check your understanding of this topic are aimed at ensuring that you correctly form one degree or another with any adjective. First, let's look at the comparative form. In order to form a comparative form from any adjective, you need to follow these rules:
- If the word is one-syllable or two-syllable, but the stress falls on the first syllable, then we add the suffix “er” to it: smart (smart) - smarter (smarter); hard (heavy) - harder (heavier).
- If a word ends in “e”, one letter “r” is added to it: large (large) - larger (more); polite (polite) - politer (more polite).
- If a one-syllable word ends with a consonant letter preceded by a short vowel sound, then the last letter is doubled when a suffix is added: big (large) - bigger (more); hot (hot) - hotter (hotter).
- If the adjective ends with the letter “y”, when adding a suffix it changes to “i”: noisy (noisy) - noisier (noisier); easy (simple) - easier (simpler).
- If an adjective has more than two syllables, no suffix is added to it. We put before this adjective the comparative adverb “more”, which translated into Russian means “more”: beautiful (beautiful) - more beautiful (more beautiful); interesting (interesting) - more interesting (more interesting).
- If you need to indicate that the quality is lower than that of another object, then instead of the above-mentioned word we take “less”, translated as “less”: beautiful (beautiful) - less beautiful (less beautiful); interesting (interesting) - less interesting (less interesting).
Thus, we can easily form sentences where we want to compare the qualities of different objects.
Superlative
Comparatives and superlatives are formed very easily by Russian-speaking users, since the concept of comparison and superiority is very similar to what we know in Russian. So, to form the last degree, we need to apply concepts such as “most, most/least”. But here there are certain rules that need to be followed:
- If the word has one syllable, we add the suffix “est” to such an adjective, and the article “the” will appear before the newly formed word: smart (smart) - the smartest (smartest); hard (heavy) - the hardest (the heaviest).
- If there is an “e” ending at the end of a word, we will only use the “st” suffix: large (large) - the largest (largest); polite (polite) - the politest (the most polite).
- If a word ends with a consonant preceded by a short vowel sound, we double the last letter in the letter. This does not manifest itself in speech: big (large) - the biggest (largest); hot (hot) - the hottest (hottest).
- If the last place in a word is the letter y, when adding a suffix we change it to i: noisy (noisy) - the noisiest (noisiest); easy (simple) - the easiest (simplest).
- For long polysyllabic words there is another way of formation. We put the adverb “the most” in front of the word, which translates as “the most, the most”: beautiful (beautiful) - the most beautiful (the most beautiful); interesting (interesting) - the most interesting (the most interesting).
- If you need to indicate that the quality is the lowest, then instead of the word “most,” we take “the least,” translated as “the least”: beautiful (beautiful) - the least beautiful (least beautiful); interesting (interesting) - the least interesting (least interesting).
- There are words consisting of two components. In this case, we also put the indicated adverbs in front of them: easy-going (sociable) - more easy-going (more sociable) - the most easy-going (the most sociable); easy-going (sociable) - less easy-going (less sociable) - the least easy-going (least sociable).
Comparative and superlative degrees: words of exception
There are words that, despite all the existing rules, form degrees in their own way. Such words must be learned by heart. The comparative and superlative degrees of such words are included in a separate table.
Positive | Comparative | Excellent |
|
small | |||
farther, further | the farthest, the furthest |
||
the oldest, the eldest |
|||
the latest, the last |
When using a word consisting of two components, one of which is an exception word, you need to use exactly its form: good-looking (beautiful) - better-looking (more beautiful) - the best-looking (the most beautiful).
Set phrases
Both the comparative degree and the superlative degree are used in sentences as part of special constructions. Most often these are the following options:
- The construction “the... the...”. The more I read, the more I know. The more I read, the more I know.
- The construction “as... as...”. He is as tall as his brother. He is as tall as his brother.
- The construction “not so... as...”. She is not so fit as me. She's not as slim as me.
These are the most common variants of sentences in which we use the mentioned degrees of comparison.
Degree of comparison- this is the general name for forms of adjectives expressing various degrees of the attribute of an object.
Only qualitative adjectives that denote a changing characteristic have degrees of comparison. In Russian there are three degrees of comparison of adjectives: positive, comparative and superlative.
Usually adjectives name the attribute of an object without comparing it with others:
green grass, sweet candy.
Such adjectives are in the form of the positive degree.
Positive degree of comparison is a form of a qualitative adjective that denotes a feature of an object beyond comparison.
Objects may have characteristics that appear to a greater (smaller) or greatest (smallest) degree, for example:
the shirt is lighter, the weather is warmer, the building is tallest.
In these cases, comparative and superlative comparisons of adjectives are used.
comparative
Comparative degree of adjectives names a characteristic that is manifested in a given object or person to a greater or lesser extent than in the one with which it is compared. For example:
candy tastes better than chocolate;
the weather is colder in winter than in summer;
girls are more careful than boys.
The comparative degree has two forms: simple and compound.
Simple comparative degree adjectives only indicate that the attribute is represented to a greater (but not less) extent. It is formed by adding suffixes to the base of the positive degree:
- -EE, -EY:
dear - dear to her, dear to her;
strong - strong her, strong her.
- -E:
- G, K, X, D, T, ST, then the final consonant of the stem alternates:
dear G oh dear and e,
thunder To th - thunder h e,
you X y - ty w e,
about st oh - about sch e.
- For adjectives with suffixes -K-, -OK-, -EK- these suffixes are truncated:
near To th - closest,
shire OK th - wider e
- G, K, X, D, T, ST, then the final consonant of the stem alternates:
- -SH:
- If the stem of adjectives ends in G, K, then the final consonant of the stem is truncated:
dol G th - longer,
tone To th - thinner.
old - older.
- If the stem of adjectives ends in G, K, then the final consonant of the stem is truncated:
Formative suffixes ( -EE, -EY, -E, -SHE) do not change the meaning of the word and do not form a new word, so they are not included in the stem of the word. Please note that adjectives in the simple comparative form do not have endings.
You can add a prefix to the simple comparative form BY-, which denotes a slight increase in the characteristic, for example:
more - more, less - less.
Sometimes the simple form of the comparative degree is formed from words that have a different stem. For example:
good is better, bad is worse, small is less.
Adjectives in the simple form of the comparative degree do not change by gender, number and case. The simple comparative degree is the uninflected form of adjectives.
Some qualitative adjectives do not have a simple comparative form, for example:
bald, deaf, tall, businesslike and etc.
Compound comparative degree adjectives are formed using words more And less which are placed before adjectives in the positive degree:
green - more green, bitter - less bitter.
Adjectives in the compound form of the comparative degree change according to gender, number and case:
less sour compote(m.r.) - less sour candy(f.r.);
brighter sun(units) - brighter stars(plural);
less complex work(i.p.) - about less complex work(p.p.).
Auxiliary words more And less genders, numbers and cases do not change.
Comparison of two objects on any basis can be expressed in different ways:
The left house is higher than the right.
The left house is higher than the right.
The left house is higher than the right one.
Superlative
Superlative adjectives indicates that an object has the highest degree of attribute, that is, it surpasses other objects in this attribute. For example:
delicious candy, coldest winter.
The superlative degree has two forms: simple and compound.
Simple superlative adjective names are formed using suffixes by adding them to the base of the adjectives in the form of a positive degree:
- -AYSH-(with alternation of the last consonant letter of the stem):
strictly G th - stro and aishiy,
times To th - times h aishiy,
you X y - ty w aishiy.
Note: suffix -AYSH- is always under emphasis: the strictest, the gentlest.
- -EYSH-:
delicious - delicious,
old - oldest.
- NAI- + -SH-(with truncated suffix -OK-):
high OK th - highest.
- NAI- + -EYSH-:
delicious - the most delicious.
Console NAI- used with a simple superlative degree to draw attention to the absolute superiority of a given attribute:
rare - the rarest - the rarest,
strong - the strongest - the strongest.
Sometimes the simple superlative form is formed from words that have a different stem. For example:
good is the best, bad is the worst, small is the smaller.
Adjectives in the simple superlative form vary in number, gender and case:
highest - highest,
kindest - kindest,
the strongest - the strongest.
Compound superlative adjectives are formed in two ways:
- With words most, most, least which are placed before adjectives in the positive form:
the bravest, the richest, the least significant.
Such adjectives change according to gender, number and case:
the bravest - the bravest,
the bravest - the bravest,
the bravest - the bravest.
Words most And least are immutable:
the most daring, the least beautiful, the least long.
- With words everyone, everything which are placed after adjectives in the simple form of the comparative degree:
bravest of all, richest of all, most interesting.
Such adjectives do not change in gender, number and case, since they are formed from the simple form of the comparative degree, which is unchangeable.
Note: words cannot be mixed most, most, least with a simple comparative form to form a compound superlative form. Shapes:
the most beautiful, the most difficult, the least interesting.
are incorrect. Also words most, most, least cannot be used with adjectives in the simple superlative form:
the most delicious, the fastest, the smallest.
Instead of these phrases, you should use a simple or compound superlative, without mixing them:
instead of the most delicious one might say the tastiest or delicious;
instead of fastest one might say the fastest or fastest;
instead of least minute one might say least small or minute.
The superlative form can be formed from any qualitative adjective.
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Adjectives in Russian have two degrees of comparison: superlative and comparative. We will talk about them in this article.
Comparative degree of an adjective.
The comparative adjective shows that a characteristic of one object is manifested to a greater or lesser extent than a characteristic of another.
The comparative degree of an adjective has two forms: simple and compound.
A simple one is formed by adding the suffixes –ee(s), -e, -she: more beautiful, colder, louder, thinner, etc.
Examples of a simple form of a comparative adjective:
- The coach of our football team turned out to be more cunning his opponent (We compare two trainers based on the quality of “cunning”: one is more cunning than the other).
- Homemade compote tastier purchased juice (We compare the taste of two drinks: homemade compote and purchased juice).
The compound form of the comparative degree of the adjective is formed by additional words. Usually it is “more” or “less”.
Examples of a compound form of a comparative adjective:
- Oleg - more experienced actor than Stanislav. It’s better to take him for this role (We compare the experience of two actors: Oleg and Stanislav).
- Anton's hat less funny than Dmitry’s (We compare hats based on “funnyness”).
Superlative adjective
The superlative degree tells us that a certain object is superior to others in some way. Or, on the contrary, it is the worst. By the way, “worst” is a superlative adjective.
The superlative degree of an adjective, like the comparative, has two forms: simple and compound. Simple - formed by a suffix, compound - by an additional word.
The simple superlative form is formed using the suffixes –eysh-, -aysh-.
Examples of the simple form of a superlative adjective:
- Baikal – deepest lake not only in our country, but throughout the planet.
- Nabi Tajima – oldest living person on Earth.
To get a compound form of the superlative adjective, you need to add the words: most, most or least.
Examples of the superlative form of an adjective:
- Lev Yashin - the greatest goalkeeper in the history of football.
- Batman and Spider-Man – most recognizable characters from Marvel comics.
Form comparative and superlative degrees of the following adjectives...
Let's look at the formation of degrees of adjectives using an example.
Comparative degree: beautiful - more beautiful, more beautiful; big bigger; smart - smarter, more intelligent.
Superlative degree: beautiful - most beautiful, most beautiful; big - the biggest; smart - the smartest, the smartest.
Degrees of comparison of adjectives have almost all qualitative adjectives. As you can guess from the name, qualitative adjectives- these are adjectives that indicate some quality of a noun: good, dark, prominent, talented. Such adjectives have comparative and superlative degree of comparison.
Comparative degree of comparison.
The comparative degree of an adjective expresses the manifestation of some quality of a noun to a greater or lesser extent than that of another noun: This car color is better than the previous one. Your drawing is more beautiful than mine. This plate is deeper than that one. Comparative degree of adjectives in Russian can be simple or complex.
Simple degree of comparison of adjectives is formed using the following suffixes:
- e: short - shorter, large - longer, steep - steeper;
- her(s): stately - more stately, warm - warmer;
- she: young - younger, old - older.
When forming the comparative degree, adjectives sometimes change their root: small - smaller, bad - worse, good - better. Adjectives that have the simple comparative form do not change endings and are not inflected.
Complex degree of comparison of adjectives formed by particles more or less, which are added to the form of the positive (initial) degree of comparison: more difficult descent, less accessible mode of transport. Like the full form of the initial (positive) degree of an adjective, the complex degree of comparison is declined by case, gender and number.
Superlative degree of adjectives.
Superlative adjective assigns to a noun the least or greatest degree of some quality: It was the coldest winter in the last 10 years. As well as comparative superlative degree of adjectives in Russian can be simple or complex.
Simple superlative adjectives formed by adding suffixes to the stem -aysh-, -eysh-: great - greatest, sweet - sweetest, weak - weakest, small - smallest. The exception is words good And bad- they are replaced by adjectives in the superlative degree best And worst.
When forming a complex superlative form, particles are used least/most And most: most/least accessible, most accessible. Both types of superlative adjectives vary by case, number and gender.
Norms for using degree of comparison of adjectives.
- The roughest error when using degrees of comparison is the simultaneous use of both degrees of comparison with one noun: more talented, less kind. This mistake should not be made under any circumstances! The only exceptions are two forms of adjectives: the worst And the best.
- Not all qualitative adjectives can form both forms of degrees of comparison, or rather, the suffixal method is not available when using such adjectives: fighting, sick, brilliant, immortal, stormy, eternal, superior, strong-willed, possible, outstanding, deaf, heroic, proud, naked, distant, old, businesslike, familiar, cruel, short, oblique, crooked, peaceful, dead, mighty, lower, unknown, excellent, general, advanced, last, positive, constant, right, similar, empty, early, developed, torn, blind, timid, controversial, urgent, predatory, colorful, young, etc. Also, some of these adjectives cannot even form a comparative degree of comparison - for example, one cannot be more naked or less naked, more immortal or less.
- There are times when theoretically education and use of superlatives perhaps, but logically not. For example, the sentence would be incorrect “Aivazovsky is a most talented Russian artist" The number of Russian artists is incredibly large, so to say that some of them most talented will be biased and incorrect. To emphasize the significance in this case, you can use the phrase "one of the most talented". Despite this, often for propaganda purposes or to express one’s own opinion, such moments are acceptable. For example, you could say: "I believe that Tchaikovsky is Russia's greatest composer of all time." Thus, this will be an expression of a specific subjective opinion, which does not violate the lexical norms and logical connections of speech.
In linguistics, there are three types of comparison of adjectives. They show the extent of manifestation of the trait, making speech more figurative and more precise. The superlative and comparative degrees of adjectives are characterized by a simple form and a compound (complex) form. But not all adjectives can form them.
From which adjectives can we form degrees of comparison?
The Russian language contains the following categories of this part of speech:
- possessive ( bearish, motherly);
- (glass, dining);
- quality ( red, kind, pale).
The latter denote a sign associated with the qualitative characteristics of objects and phenomena. and can stand in full form ( kind, handsome) or short ( kind, handsome).
Only qualitative adjectives can form . They are divided into:
- positive ( black, tall);
- comparative ( colder, less complex);
- excellent ( the strongest, the saltiest).
Sometimes only the last two are considered to contain a comparison. Comparative education may also involve a short form.
Comparative degree of adjectives
What is the comparative degree of an adjective can be illustrated with examples:
- strong - strongest - stronger;
- good - better - better;
- thin - thinner – less thin.
It can be seen that the positive measure ( strong, good, thin) is modified in two ways: using suffixes (synthetically) or auxiliary words (analytically). The first case is a simple form, the second is a complex (composite) form.
Education simple comparative
To form this form of adjectives in Russian, its stem is taken (that is, a word without an ending). Suffixes are added to it:
- (-ey, -ee) – kind – kinder, kinder; difficult - more difficult;
- (s) – thick – thicker, high - higher, short - Briefly speaking;
- (-she) – thin – thinner, early – earlier.
An amplifier attachment “po-” can be added: more beautiful - more beautiful, easier - simpler. This method is characteristic of the conversational style, as is the ending “-ee”.
In this case, three exception words are identified, which are formed in a suppletive way - by changing the stem (by the way, they change in a special way in other languages - German, English).
Thus, the word “good” receives a simple comparative form of “better”, “bad” becomes “worse”, and small becomes “less”.
This type of comparison can perform the following syntactic functions:
- predicate (The girl is three years younger than the boy. The movie turned out worse than the book);
- inconsistent definition (He always chose more difficult tasks).
Adjectives in the simple comparative degree do not change by gender, case, or number.
Composite degree education
Another type is the compound (complex), or analytical, form of the comparative degree. The name comes from the fact that it consists of two words. The scheme of its formation is as follows:
Auxiliary word “more”, “less” + positive form: less known, more useful.
If the auxiliary word has the prefix “nai-” (most, least), then this is already a complex superlative measure.
Compound comparative differs in that it can change
- by gender (“less durable” – masculine);
- numbers (“less cold” – plural);
- cases (“more detailed” – dative case).
In addition, due to the auxiliary word, it can show both an increase and a decrease in the manifestation of an object’s attribute.
In a sentence it happens:
- predicate ( Corner room was less warm);
- agreed upon definition ( Larger grains are used for seeds).
Errors with degrees of comparison
A common mistake is to use both simple and composite comparison measures:
- “more” (“less”) plus simple comparative form;
- the same is simple excellent;
- a mixture of simple and compound superb.
It is incorrect to say “less intelligent”, “more beautiful”. Meets language standards less smart, more beautiful.
Although, as always, there are exceptions: the combinations “worst/best” are grammatically correct.
Suffix formation (adding “-she”, “-aysh-”, “-eysh-”) is not used for some adjectives: brilliant, sick, blind, familiar, short, empty, peaceful and others. But they participate in the formation of the analytical degree of comparison.
The superlative degree of adjectives will be incorrect if persons or objects of the same meaning are compared. For example, Newton made invaluable contributions to science. However, he cannot be called “the greatest,” since there are other outstanding physicists. One can only say “one of the greatest scientists.”
Knowledge of the rules for forming a measure of comparison will help the correct construction of oral and written speech. This is important when completing academic assignments, writing scientific and creative works.