Learn English Grammar and Vocabulary
Degrees of Comparison
Read the following sentences:
- John’s painting was good.
- Peter’s painting was better than that of John’s.
- Tom’s painting was the best of all.
In sentence 1, the adjective good merely tells us that John’s painting has the quality of goodness, without saying how much of this quality it has.
In sentence 2, the adjective better tells us that Peter’s painting, compared with John’s, has more of the quality of goodness.
In sentence 3, the adjective best tells us that of all the three paintings, Tom’s has the highest degree of the quality of goodness.
We thus see that adjectives change in form (good, better, best) to show comparison. These are called the three degrees of comparison.
Here the adjective good is said to be in the positive degree.
The adjective better is said to be in the comparative degree.
The adjective best is said to be in the superlative degree.
The adjective in its simplest form is the one in the positive degree. Examples are: tall, nice, big, kind, large, great, beautiful etc.
The positive degree of the adjective denotes the mere existence of some quality. It is used when no comparison is made.
The comparative degree of the adjectives expresses a higher degree of the quality than that is expressed by the positive degree. It is used when two things are compared. Examples are: taller, nicer, bigger, kinder, larger, greater, more beautiful etc.
- He is taller than his brother.
- You are better than him.
The superlative degree of the adjectives denotes the highest degree of the quality. The superlative adjectives are used when more than two things are compared.
Examples are: tallest, nicest, biggest, kindest, largest, greatest, most beautiful etc.
- He is the tallest boy in the class.
- She is the most beautiful girl I have seen.
Note that there is another way in which we can compare things. For example, instead of saying ‘John is stronger than Peter’, we can say ‘Peter is less strong than John’. Similarly, instead of saying ‘Tom is the laziest boy in the class’, we can say ‘Tom is the least industrious boy in the class’.
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