Degrees of comparison of the adjective nice in English. Degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs in English (comparative and superlative). Degrees of Comparison of Agjectives and Adverbs (Comparatives and Superlatives). adjective exceptions

English adjectives are not difficult to learn, as they have one single word form that fits nouns of all genders and numbers. A change in this form occurs only in one case - when using an adjective in a comparative or superlative degree. In this case, either a suffix or a special additional word is added to the stem. But, as is often the case in English, not all words behave according to the general norm. Therefore, today we will study the grammar rules and all the exceptions in the degree of comparison of adjectives in English.

In English grammar, there are three degrees of an adjective:

• positive ) - the original form of the word describing the signs and qualities ( friendly);
• comparative ) - describes the characteristics of an item/hero in comparison with another object ( more/less friendly);
• excellent (superlative) ) - indicates absolute perfection and unsurpassed characteristics ( the friendliest).

As already noted, the change in the basis of the word occurs only in a comparative degree and superlative. These comparative forms are obtained in two ways: by adding suffixes or by using additional words.

Synthetic forms of adjectives

This form is typical for all monosyllabic and part of two-syllable adjectives (with endings – y, -er, -ow, -le, -some). When forming a comparative degree, the suffix -er is attached to the basis of such words, and when building an excellent degree, the suffix -est is added.

* It is worth noting that in the sentence the superlative degree is used with the definite article: Iam the happiestpersonintheworld- I am the happiest person on earth!

It is noteworthy that the synthetic form is characteristic of a number of special disyllabic adjectives. These are the words: clever, common, friendly, simple, pleasant, handsome, polite, angry, quiet, gentle, cruel, narrow. They form degrees of comparison both in the suffixal way and in the analytical way, which we will discuss in the next section.

Analytic forms of adjectives

Polysyllabic adjectives can form forms only with the help of special words: more (comparative) and most (superlative).

At the same time, analytical adjectives in the superlative degree are also written with the article the: Thebusis the mostconvenientmeansoftransportation- The bus is the most convenient means of transport.

At first glance, everything in the education of degrees is simple, understandable and logical. But English wouldn't be English if he didn't make some exceptions to the rule for certain words.

Exceptions to the degree of comparison of adjectives in English

In this section, we will consider all special cases of the formation of the degree of comparison of adjectives in English.

Special degrees of comparison

At the beginning of the article, we noted that the stem of an adjective never changes. But in exceptional cases one has to face such a phenomenon as the formation of comparative forms of adjectives from completely different roots. This way of changing the form of a word is called suppletive. There are very few adjectives with such an original method of forming comparative degrees, but they are among the most common English words. Therefore, the table below must be memorized.

*adjectives have the same meaning but are used for different classes of words ( much– uncountable nouns, many- countable nouns.).

To easily and quickly remember these exceptional cases, let's work with examples of their use in sentences.

1. It was a bad idea. My car is worse than yours. It was the worst day of the whole vacation.

It was a bad idea. My car is worse than yours. It was the worst day of the entire holiday.

1. She has a good house. Her house is better than mine. It is the best house in the whole city.

She has a good home. Her house is better than mine. This is the best house in the whole city.

1. I have much free time. I have more free time in winter than in summer. Most of my free time is spent on studying English.

I have a lot of free time. I have more free time in winter than in summer. Most of my free time is spent learning English.

1. We make a little progress in English. But our progress is less, than your friend's progress. And Bob had made the least progress in his group.

We have made some progress in English. But our progress is less than your friend's. And Bob has achieved the least success in his group.

Double degrees of comparison

Another interesting case is adjectives, which have two variants of degrees of comparison and both have different meanings. In English grammar, 4 polysemantic words are distinguished, the changes in the forms and meanings of which should be learned by heart.

*both superlatives are equivalent when used to indicate distance

As in the previous section, to consolidate the acquired knowledge, we will work with practical examples of their use.

1. It's an old book. My husband is seven years old older than me. His elder sister is a journalist. What is the oldest song in the world? I am the eldest at my office.

This is an old book. My husband is seven years older than me. His older sister is a journalist. What is the oldest song in the world? I am the senior in my office (by position).

1. It was a late evening. The concert has been postponed to a later date. My father has 2 nephews: Brian and Andrew. The former is a musician , the latter is a lawyer. Have you already heard the latest news? I was at the theater last week. When was the last time you called him?

It was late evening. The concert was postponed to a later date. My father has two nephews: Brian and Andrew. The first is a musician, and the second is a lawyer. Have you already heard the latest news? I was at the theater last week. When was the last time you called him?

1. 1. My grandparents lived on the far side of the river. They could see a small boat on the farther shore. I was waiting for further instructions. The girl hidden in the farthest(=furthest) corner of the garden.

My grandparents lived on the far side of the river. They could see a small boat on the distant shore. I awaited further instructions. The girl hid in the farthest corner of the garden.

1. This restaurant is very near the lake. I live nearer to the school than my friend. Where is the nearest hospital? We will go to Sochi next summer. The questions to the text you can find on the next page.

This restaurant is located very close to the lake. I live closer to school than my friend. Where is the nearest hospital? Next summer we will go to Sochi. Questions to the text can be found on the next page.

Words that do not form degrees of comparison

And the last exceptions to the degree of comparison of adjectives in modern English are words that do not have comparative forms. All relative adjectives in English should be included in this category. The fact is that they describe such characteristics of objects that cannot be underestimated or exaggerated. Among them, such signs predominate as:

• location or nationality: eastern - eastern, urban - urban, French - French, forest - forest;
• material and shape of the object: wooden - wooden, leather - leather, iron - iron, cylindrical - cylindrical.
• connection with time: short-term - short-term, prehistoric - prehistoric, monthly - monthly.
• field of knowledge: religious - religious, geographical - geographical, historical - historical.

These exceptions are easy to remember, because they are based on logical associations, because such a phenomenon is not uncommon in Russian. We also don't say that the table is super-wooden, and the nearest French restaurant is more French than the one that recently opened in the neighboring area.

This concludes the study of today's material. Good luck in improving your English and see you soon!

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As in Russian, so in English, adjectives have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, superlative.

As can be seen from the above examples, the comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives in English are formed in three ways:
1) by adding suffixes - er And - est to the main form (synthetic);
2) through the use of words more/less And most/least before the main form (analytical);
H) by forming degrees of comparison from different roots. Adjectives in the superlative degree are preceded by the definite article. the.
The rules for choosing the method of forming degrees of comparison are very simple.
Synthetic way(using suffixes - er for the comparative degree and - est for superlatives) applies to:

• all one-syllable adjectives: tall - taller - the tallest; fat - fatter - the fattest. The exceptions are: like- similar - more like - the most like; real- real - more real – the most real;
• all two-syllable adjectives ending in – at : happy - happier - the happiest; funny - funnier - the funniest.

Two-syllable adjectives ending in – le , - ow , - er and disyllabic adjectives with stress on the second syllable (except: exact- accurate - only moreexact – themostexact), as well as adjectives common, handsome, pleasant, solid, quiet, wicked, cruel, stupid, tired can form degrees of comparison both synthetically and analytically:

For almost all of these words, the analytical method of forming degrees of comparison is more preferable.
Adjectives formed with a negative prefix un- from two-syllable adjectives to -at, can also have two forms of degrees of comparison: unhappy- unhappy, unfortunate unhappier/moreunhappy-theunhappiest/themostunhappy.
When forming degrees of comparison by means of suffixes - er And
-est The following spelling rules apply:
if the adjective ends in mute - e , then adding - er and - mute - e omitted: mature - ripe -riper-theripest;
if the adjective ends in a consonant with a preceding short vowel, then in the comparative and superlative degree the final consonant is doubled: big – bigger – thebiggest; hot – hotter – thehot test; thin – thinner – thethinnest;
if the adjective ends in - at with a preceding consonant, then in a comparative and superlative degree - at goes into - i -: dirty -dirtier-thedirtiest;busy-busier-thebusiest;easy-easier-theeasiest. If before -at there is a vowel, then - at remains unchanged: cheerful - gay-gayer-thegayest.
Most two-syllable adjectives, as well as adjectives consisting of three or more syllables, form a comparative degree using the word thenre- more , and the superlative degree with themost- most. For example: beautiful beautiful - more beautiful - the most beautiful, frequent - frequent - more frequent - the most frequent.
Analytical method formation of degrees of comparison using words less- less and theleast- least applicable to all quality adjectives without exception. For example: capable able - less able - the least able; interesting - interesting - less interesting - the least interesting.
adjectives good,much,many,late,near,old,far form degrees of comparison from different roots:

adjectives far,old,near,late have double degrees of comparison. Forms farther/thefarthest are used in the meaning of the distance distance:
Weliveinthefarther sideofthe town. - We live on distant end of the city.

Forms further/thefurthest are also used in the meanings: further, later; additional. Moreover, the form further, as a rule, corresponds to the value "additional, one more":
Here is a further example.- Here one more example.
adjective form theeldest- the oldest of the family members - is used only as a definition for a noun. The form elder- the eldest in the family - is never used in comparative constructions:
My brother John is three years old older (than I am).- My brother John for three years older(than me). in which it is not about seniority, but about the age of family members. In such cases, the forms older/theoldest.

Degrees of comparison of adjectives- this is a lexical and grammatical category of adjectives, which indicates the ability of an adjective feature to manifest itself to a lesser, greater or highest degree. Degrees of comparison are inherent only in qualitative adjectives.

In English, adjectives have positive, comparative, and superlative degrees.

positive degree– denotes a trait that does not compare with other traits (dry, shiny, quiet, wide, exciting).
comparative- denotes a sign that manifests itself in one object more strongly (less) than in another object, as well as a sign that appears in an object at different times with varying degrees (whiter, cleaner, deeper, less strict).
Superlatives- denotes a sign in its highest manifestation in comparison with other signs or without it (the simplest, strongest, most daring, least convenient).

Rules for the formation of comparative and superlative degrees of comparison of adjectives

Comparative and superlative degrees of comparison are formed by adding suffixes (a morpheme after the root, which serves to form new words (old - old age) or new forms of the word (float - floated) and special words.

The degrees of comparison of monosyllabic adjectives are formed by adding suffixes -er- in the comparative degree and -est- in the superlative degree: deep-deep er - the deep est(deep - deeper - deepest).

The degrees of comparison of two-syllable adjectives that end in -y, -er, -le, -ow: simple - simpler - the simplest (simple, easier, the easiest), narrow - narrower - the narrowest (narrow - already - the narrowest), easy - easier - the easiest (simple - easier - simplest).

Most adjectives with two or more syllables form degrees of comparison with the help of special words: in a comparative degree - more(more), less(less); in superlatives - the most(most), the least(least): difficult - more difficult - the most difficult (difficult - more difficult - the most difficult).

NB! The superlative degree of comparison of adjectives is always used with the definite article. the!

One-syllable adjectives (One syllable adjectives)

• young - younger - the youngest (young - younger - the youngest);
• big - bigger - the biggest (big - more - largest);
• short - shorter - the shortest (short - shorter - shortest)

Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y (Two-syllable adjective ending in -y)

• lovely - lovelier - the loveliest (cute, beautiful - sweeter, more beautiful - sweetest, most beautiful);
• pretty - prettier - the prettiest (beautiful - more beautiful - the most beautiful);
• funny - funnier - the funniest (funny - funnier - the funniest).

Other two-syllable adjectives

• pleasant - more pleasant - the most pleasant (pleasant - more pleasant - the most pleasant);
• annoyed - more annoyed - the most annoyed (irritated - more annoyed - the most annoyed);
• modern - more modern - the most modern (modern - more modern - the most modern);
• careful - more careful - the most careful (careful - more careful - the most careful);
• careless - more careless - the most careless (careless, carefree - carefree - the most carefree).

Trisyllabic or polysyllabic adjectives (Adjectives of theree or more syllables)

• expensive - more expensive - the most expensive (expensive - more expensive - the most expensive);
• attractive - more attractive - the most attractive (attractive - more attractive - the most attractive);
• exciting - more exciting - the most exciting (exciting - more exciting - the most exciting);
• intelligent - more intelligent - the most intelligent (smart, intelligent - smarter - the smartest).

Degrees of comparison of adjectives formed from different stems (exceptions) (Adjectives with irregular comparatives and superlatives)

• good - better - the best (good - better - best);
• bad - worse - the worst (bad - worse - worst);
• far - further / farther - the furthest / farthest (distant - more distant - the most distant);
• little - less - the least (small - smaller - smallest);
• many (with countable) / much (with uncountable nouns) - more - the most (a lot - more - the biggest).

Note!

1. Do not use at the same time more/less, most/least and suffixes -er, -est: faster, fastest, more modern, the most modern.
2. adjectives elder/eldest(older - the oldest), formed from old(old), mean members of the same family: my elder brother - my older brother.
3. Adjectives such as central (central), dead (dead), empty (empty), infinite (infinite), perfect (perfect), straight (direct), unique (unique), right ( correct), wrong (wrong), real (real), as well as adjectives in -ed: bored (bored), pleased (pleased).
4. Some two-syllable adjectives can form degrees of comparison in two ways: by adding suffixes to the word stem -er, -est and with special words more, most. These are adjectives such as: clever (smart), common (general), cruel (cruel), gentle (gentle), pleasant (pleasant), polite (polite), quiet (secret, calm), stupid (stupid), etc.

Degrees of comparison with words more, most form adjectives that end in suffixes ful, -less: careful (caring), useful (useful), hopeless (hopeless).

Spelling rules in the formation of degrees of comparison of one-syllable and some two-syllable adjectives

• • letter -e"discard" before adding -er, -est: nice - nicer - the nicest;
  • letter -y after a consonant it changes to -ier, -iest: pretty - prettier - the prettiest;
  • the final consonant before which there is a vowel doubles: hot - hotter - the hottest, big - bigger - the - biggest.

Adjective in English. List of basic adjectives with transcription and translation English verb forms

comparative is needed mainly to compare one thing with another. After all, you must admit that it would be difficult to express yourself without comparing any objects. Comparative adjectives such as “more beautiful, better, warmer, colder, cooler, etc.” scroll through our dialect every day, we just may not notice it. Therefore, the entire topic below is important for digestibility and is presented with accessible simplicity.

How to make a comparative adjective from a positive degree of an adjective?

First, let's figure out what is the positive degree of an adjective? Everything is simple. The positive degree of an adjective is the original form of an adjective that indicates the quality of an item and is used without any comparison with other items. For instance:

• It's beautiful day - Beautiful day.
• My teacher is very young - My teacher is too young.
• They're very friendly people - They are very friendly people.
• It's an expensive restaurant - This is an expensive restaurant.
• The rooms are very small - The rooms are very small.

Another question may come up here. What is the comparative degree of an adjective? And here it is even easier. The comparative degree of an adjective is a form of an adjective that indicates the quality of one subject in relation to another subject. For example:

• Vegetables are cheaper than meat - Vegetables are cheaper than meat.
• This bag of potatoes is heavier than that bag of tomatoes - This bag of potatoes is heavier than that bag of tomatoes.
• Spain is warmer than England - Spain is warmer than England.
• This new car is faster than my old one - This new car is faster than my old one.
• Sarah is older than her brother - Sarah is older than her brother.

Feel the difference? Now we will return to the main question: how to convert an adjective from a positive degree to a comparative degree?

When converted, the standard for all adjectives is to add the suffix "-er" to the end of the word. For example:

In English, when comparing, the conjunction “than” is often used:

• The coast road to the town is shorter than the mountain road - The road along the embankment to the city is shorter than the road through the mountains.
• My father is younger than my mother - My father is younger than my mother.
• His new mobile is smaller than his old one - His new mobile is smaller than his old one.
• The Empire State building is taller than the Statue of Liberty - The Empire State Building is taller than the Statue of Liberty.
• Wool is warmer than cotton - Wool is warmer than cotton.

In this case, there are always a number of the following conversion rules that must be observed:

1. For two-syllable adjectives ending in a consonant and "-y": change "-y" to "-i" + suffix "-er":

Examples:

• English is easier than Japanese - English is easier than Japanese.
• My suitcase is heavier than your suitcase - My suitcase is heavier than your suitcase.
• Your car is dirtier than mine - Your car is dirtier than mine.
• His new girlfriend is prettier than your Julia - His new girlfriend is prettier than your Julia.
• Last time she was happier than today - Last time she was happier than today.

2. If a one-syllable adjective ends in a vowel and a consonant: add the last consonant + the suffix "-er":

Examples:

• The Grand Hotel is bigger than is the Sea View Hotel - The Grand Hotel is bigger than The Sea View Hotel.
• My cup of tea is hotter than yours - My cup of tea is hotter than yours.
• Mike is fatter than John - Mike is fatter than John.
• The screw-driver is thinner than mine - This screwdriver is thinner than mine.

3. For adjectives ending in "-e", add only one suffix "-r":

For example:

• My arguments is truer than yours - My arguments are truer than yours.
• Her shirt is whiter than her girlfriends' - Her shirt is whiter than her friend's.
• Wheels of your car is larger than wheels of mine - The wheels of your car are larger than the wheels of mine.

4. Before two-syllable adjectives that do not end in “-y” and before adjectives that consist of 3 or more syllables, when converted to a comparative degree, add the function word “more - more”, without adding a suffix:

For example:

• The train is more expensive than the bus - The train is more expensive than the bus.
• Drivers in this country are more careless than drivers in my country - Drivers in this country are more careless than drivers in my country.
• The exam today was more difficult than last year's exam - Today's exam was more difficult than last year's exam.
• The students ask more intelligent questions than they did before - Students ask smarter questions than they did before.
• Her second book is more interesting than her first - Her second book is more interesting than her first.

5. Also, we cannot do without exceptions, which, when transformed, take on a completely different form than in all of the above points:

For example:

• Ms. Davies is a better teacher than Mr. Andrews - Mrs. Davis is a better teacher than Mr. Andrews.
• These boots are worse than those that we received last year - These boots are worse than those that we received last year.
• I've less money than you have - I have less money than you.
• From here to Moscow is farther than to St. Petersburg - From here to Moscow is further than to St. Petersburg.

To enhance the expression, we can insert adverbs such as a bit (a little), a lot (much), much (significantly) before comparative adjectives:

• She's a lot happier now - She is much happier now.
• I'm a bit older than you - I'm a little older than you.
• This book is much more interesting than the other one - This book is much more interesting than the others.

This is the end of this post. Perhaps there is something you would like to ask or add to this article. If so, please leave your comment below. Good luck.